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: There were nearly 100 new reports of soybean rust over the past two weeks. This includes reports in 20 new counties in Mississippi, 16 in Alabama, 14 in Louisiana, 13 in Arkansas, 11 in Georgia, 11 in Tennessee, 4 in Kentucky and Missouri, 2 in Florida and 1 in South Carolina. The finds in Missouri and Kentucky were the first for their states.

Update from the south: There were 55 new reports of soybean rust during the past two weeks. This includes reports in 22 new counties in Mississippi, 14 in Arkansas, 9 in Alabama, 4 in Georgia, 3 in Louisiana, and 1 each in Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee. The finds in South Carolina and Tennessee were the first in 2009 for their states.

Update from the south: During the last two weeks there have been 30 new counties with soybean rust reports. These include 3 in Florida, 2 in Alabama, 8 in Louisiana, and 17 in Mississippi.  Most of these infections have been at low incidence and severity levels.

Update from the south: Soybean rust is finally starting to stir once again in the south. During the past few weeks, soybean rust was found in new counties in Alabama, Mississippi (first find in state), Arkansas (first find in state) and Florida.

Update from the south: I love Copy-n-Paste. The update from the south is exactly the same as the last one: “outside of a few new reports in Florida, there have been no new reports over the past few weeks. That is REALLY good news.”

Update from the south: Outside of a few recent reports in Florida, there have been no new reports over the past few weeks. That is REALLY good news. Weather in parts of the South continues to be hot and is considerably drier than this spring, which has markedly slowed movement of rust.

Update from the south: Weather has warmed in the south, and that can slow the development of soybean rust. The heat and drop in precipitation may be reasons for the relatively limited number of new finds during the past few weeks (7 new finds). One new find was Texas in a site that has been positive for soybean rust in past years.

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.

Update from the south: Plant pathologists always talk about needing all three components of the disease triangle (host, pathogen, and environment) for disease development, and that is holding true early this spring.