New soybean disease to watch for in 2025

By Matt Reese, Dave Russell and Dusty Sonnenberg, CCA, Ohio Field Leader, a project of the Ohio Soybean Council and soybean check-off

As farmers prepare for the 2025 growing season scouting efforts, there are a couple new diseases that have not yet been confirmed in Ohio but are in surrounding states. Specifically, red crown rot and target spot will be on the list to watch out for in Ohio soybeans moving forward.

“Red crown rot is a disease that has leaf symptoms very similar to sudden death syndrome. It affects the root system of a plant, and impacts yields significantly,” said Horacio Lopez-Nicora, Ohio State University Extension soybean pathologist and nematologist. “It is a new pathogen to us, and it is easily overlooked and discredited as just being a little bit of SDS instead of the start of red crown rot. The difference between SDS and red crown rot is that it has a very red discoloration at the bottom of the stem, and the fruiting body that the fungus produces is very red and on the bottom of the lower parts of the stem of infected plants.… Continue reading