Nathan Kleczewski, Extension Specialist – Plant Pathology; nkleczew@udel.edu
For many years plant pathologists have been collecting data on soybean disease losses. These data are now available online in an easy to access, searchable format. In 2014, the effects of soybean cyst nematode caused over 125 million bushels of lost soybean production. The second and third most impactful diseases in 2014 were sudden death syndrome and seedling diseases, causing yield reductions of 61-62 million bushels. This is another reason to stay on top of your soybean cyst nematode populations through soil sampling in the fall and careful variety selection.