Penn State Ag Sciences Newsline -- April 19, 2005

Possibility of soybean rust shouldn't change planting strategies yet (:47)

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Suggested Intro:

PENNSYLVANIA'S SOYBEAN GROWERS ARE BRACING FOR A POSSIBLE OUTBREAK OF ASIAN SOYBEAN RUST. BUT A PLANT SPECIALIST IN PENN STATE'S COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES SAYS ALTHOUGH THE DISEASE HAS ONLY AFFECTED SOUTHERN STATES SO FAR, VIGILANCE IS A FARMER'S BEST BET. GARY ABDULLAH HAS THE STORY:

Story:

(:13) SOYBEAN RUST INFESTATION IS LARGELY DETERMINED BY WEATHER AND WIND PATTERNS, AND SO FAR PENNSYLVANIA HASN'T BEEN TOUCHED. PENN STATE PLANT PATHOLOGIST ERICK DEWOLF SAYS THAT MEANS SOYBEAN PLANTING TO DATE IS BUSINESS AS USUAL:

DeWolf Actuality:
(:19) "THINGS SUCH AS PLANTING DATE, ROW SPACING, PLANTING DENSITY SHOULD LARGELY STAY THE SAME FOR THE COMING SEASON. WE ALSO ANTICIPATE A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL SCOUTING, AND WE ALSO ARE SUGGESTING THAT GROWERS THINK THROUGH THEIR BUDGET AND EVALUATE THEIR ECONOMIC CAPACITY TO APPLY FUNGICIDES IF THEY WERE IN FACT NEEDED THIS YEAR."

(:15) DE WOLF SAYS AS THE STATE'S SOYBEAN CROPS MATURE AND FLOWER, GROWERS SHOULD VISIT THE WEB AT W-W-W DOT U-S-D-A DOT GOV TO GET THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE SPREAD OF SOYBEAN RUST TOWARD PENNSYLVANIA. FROM PENN STATE, I'M GARY ABDULLAH.

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To learn more, follow these links:

Soybean Rust (College of Agricultural Sciences Health and Emerging Issues Web Page)

SOY BEAN RUST DISEASE APPROACHES PENNSYLVANIA (from the College of Agricultural Sciences news archive)

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