Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
The lower than normal rainfall observed has limited spread of soybean rust throughout the Southeast and South-central U.S. Soybean rust was recently identified in kudzu in Leon County, Florida on April 17. However, at this early point of the growing season, and with minimal infection across the South, the risk of long distance soybean rust spread to the north is minimal. The map below shows areas currently positive for soybean rust in northeastern Mexico and throughout the Gulf Coast area of the United States. A relatively mild winter likely contributed to more conducive overwintering conditions for rust on kudzu along the Gulf Coast. A drier last 30 days across the Southcentral along with drought conditions across the Southeast has made further rust spread unlikely in these areas.
