Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
Soybean rust has been found once again in Leon County, Florida, on kudzu. Soybean rust was reported on kudzu in Mobile County, Alabama on June 7th. The disease had previously been found on kudzu in Mobile earlier this year but those infected plants were destroyed. Since the beginning of 2008, soybean rust has been reported on kudzu in one county in Alabama; ten 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. Reported infected kudzu sites in many counties have been destroyed. Rust was also reported in three states (5 municipalities) in Mexico on yam bean and soybean. These too have been destroyed or are no longer active, except for the recent find in Chiapas. 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.