Mississippi State
August 4, 2006
By Bob Ratliff
Mississippi State University
Ag Communications
Asian soybean rust has made its first 2006 appearance in
Mississippi soybean fields, but it’s probably arrived too late
to have much, if any, impact on the crop.
Rust was found in south Mississippi on Aug. 1, said
Mississippi State University
Extension Service soybean specialist Alan Blaine.
“Rust was found in a Jefferson County field and in kudzu in the
same area,” Blaine said. “Growers in south Mississippi with
soybeans still in the reproductive stage possibably need to
consider applying a fungicide to their crop if they haven’t
already done so. The crop in north Mississippi and the Delta,
our major growing areas, are most likely far enough north and
beyond the stage where rust will cause damage.”
Current environmental conditions are not conducive for rust to
thrive, Blaine added, so the moisture situation, the state of
the crop, time of the year and whether or not a fungicide has
been applied should all influence your decision concerning rust.
“So far everything is south of I-20, and I encourage producers
to stay abreast of our monitoring effors,” he said. “Based on
the current level of infection, it is doubtful rust is going to
be a problem this season.”
Scouting for Asian soybean rust will continue throughout the
state, Blaine added. The most current information about rust
sightings is available via a telephone hotline at (800)
516-0865. The hotline is a joint project of MSU and Louisiana
State University, with funding from the Mississippi Soybean
Promotion Board and BASF chemical company.
This summer’s extreme heat and short rainfall have soybeans
maturing earlier than usual in the major growing areas the
state.
“We’ve started harvesting about 20 to 21 days earlier than we
normally do,” Blaine said.
For producers with nonirrigated, or dryland, soybeans in the
Quitman County area of northwest Mississippi, yields are low.
About 30 percent to 35 percent of the Quitman County dryland
crop was harvested during early August, said Extension county
director Mack Young.
“Yields in dryland fields are disappointing at about 10 to 15
bushels an acre,” he said. “Irrigated fields look much better,
and harvesting will begin closer to the usual dates in late
August and early September.”
High fuel costs are making irrigation expensive.
“Irrigation is costing producers anywhere from about $6 an acre
up to almost $10 per application of about an inch of water to a
field,” Young said. “The cost depends on the irrigation system
and the type of fuel used.”
Dryland soybean fields are yielding about 15 to 30 bushels per
acre in the central Delta’s Humphreys County, said Extension
county director Eddie Harris.
“A 30-bushel-an-acre yield is good, considering how dry it’s
been this year,” Harris said. “The difference between the
30-bushel fields and those yielding 15 is that the higher
yielding fields caught more of the few scattered showers this
summer.”
Harvesting of irrigated soybeans is expected to begin in a week
to 10 days in the Humphreys County area.
“We’re hoping for about 50 bushels an acre on flood-irrigated
fields,”
Harris said. “Most pivot-irrigated fields may not be as good
because the pivot systems just couldn’t pump enough water to
keep up with the drought conditions.”
Yields of early-planted soybeans are low in the east-central
area of the state, according to Dennis Reginelli, Extension area
agent in Noxubee County.
“Most of the fields harvested this week were only yielding 8 to
15 bushels an acre,” he said. “This part of the crop also is
poor in quality because of the hot, dry conditions.”
There has been scattered rainfall in the eastern area of the
state recently, and Reginelli said the moisture has improved the
yield potential of later planted soybeans.
The fast pace of this year’s earlier-than-usual soybean harvest,
he added, gives producers time to get ready for the 2007 crop.
“Growers need to start preparing fields for next year,” he said. |