For those that dearly missed last week's message, I apologize. I did not forget to send the message, but email has not been running properly (or at all) for the past 10+ days.  Thankfully, it is now working and we are well into harvest. There are some interesting tidbits of information gathered over the past two weeks.

Update from the south: Alabama is officially the first state to have rust reported in its counties. If you check the national map (http://sbr.ipmpipe.org) Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas are mostly "red" as well. Soybean rust also has been reported in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia for the first time in 2009.  To date this year, rust has been found in 16 states and over 375 counties. Rust was found at this time last year in 10 states and around 200 counties.

2010 scouting: We discussed the future of the sentinel plot network in Florida a few weeks ago. It looks like the network should be up and running next summer.