Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
Since the beginning of 2008, soybean rust has been reported on kudzu in one county in Alabama; nine counties in Florida (two of these counties had reports on coral bean and snap bean); three counties in Louisiana; one county in Mississippi, and three counties in Texas. Most infected kudzu in these states has been destroyed. Rust was also reported in four states in Mexico on yam bean and soybean. Soybean sentinel plots have been established throughout the Gulf Coast region, and in many parts of the lower Midwest. Additional rains throughout most of the soybean growing region could favor rust development especially in locations in the South near sources of infected plants.