A pathology perspective of the 2024 soybean crop

By Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and Soybean Check-off

“From a pathology perspective, 2024 was quite surprising in some respects.” Those words by Dr. Horacio Lopez-Nicora, OSU Extension Soybean Pathologist and Nematologist encapsulate the 2024 growing season.

“We had a mild winter followed by a warm and dry spring,” Lopez-Nicora said. “If you recall before we hit those rains coming into our planting season in May, it was quite dry and warm in the sense that we were coming out of a mild winter. These conditions are exactly the ones that will promote the proliferation of thrips.”

Thrips are an insect that can carry diseases.

“They can vector a viral disease of soybean, known as soybean vein necrosis virus,” said Lopez-Nicora. “Soybean vein necrosis virus is a relatively new disease in the United States. It was reported first in 2008 in Tennessee, but then later reported in several soybean growing states, both in the United States and in Canada.”… Continue reading