By Jim Ruen
Progressive Farmer Contributor
Marlin Fay has a simple descriptor for white mold. ?It’s ugly!?
The Grand Meadow, Minnesota, farmer has been fighting the fungi for the past six years. Disease pressure has been significantly worse the past four years, especially on long-manured fields.
One tree-lined field has become such a challenge that it is now a favorite location for the local CHS cooperative to run test plots to evaluate soybean varieties for tolerance issues.
?I plant in 30-inch rows and have dropped my seeding rate from 175,000 to 140,000, and may go to 125,000 seeds per acre,? Fay said. ?I look for resistance when selecting seed.?
New tactics such as Sporecaster, an app designed to better pinpoint application timing of control products, offer future hope. Soybean research is also unlocking disease secrets to help in the fight.
CONFUSION ABOUT RATINGS
One stumbling block growers face is the resistance ratings used by most commercial seed companies.
