Update from the south: There has been some rust activity since the last message, all in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana. The most interesting tidbit is that some of the finds have been on soybean, and not kudzu. These are the earliest finds on soybean in Louisiana and Alabama. These early finds have caught the attention of the soybean pathologists in the South.

Ed Sikora, Alabama’s extension soybean pathologist, said that soybean rust was “3-4 weeks ‘ahead of schedule,’ and it is farther north than in previous years.” Georgia’s soybean pathologists said that “these early finds mean that soybean rust could be a real threat to the soybean crop if the disease continues to progress.”

As always, we will continue to monitor these situations closely.

Early projections: XB Yang’s models still predict limited spore movement for the next month because of weaker sources of inoculum in the Gulf Coast areas.