'Bad-News' Soy Beans
'It's been a
rough season for the bad-news beans.... Almost every handicap
that could confront Missouri's number one cash crop has popped up
this year'
University
of Missouri Press Release, 27 July 2001
August 2001
With a
record proportion of soybeans in the US now genetically modified
unprecedented disease and pestilence is striking soy growers in
Missouri where more than half the crop is down to
Roundup Ready varieties. Soy weed,
disease, pest and seed germination problems are now bigger than
ever in Missouri (see University of Missouri Press Releases
below).
Is nature starting to fight back? Is this the way to feed the
world? The gamble with global food security continues:
"I don't know what it was this year, but we saw insects eating on soybeans that we've never seen before.... There were webworms that devastated 40-acre fields. We'd never seen that much damage."
Ben Puttler, Missouri University extension entomologist, on pest attacks including ones from new insects"In 15 years I've been here, I've never seen more black cutworms on soybeans. Now we're seeing a lot of pod-eating insects building up."
Wayne Bailey, Missouri University entomologist on the unusual number of pests"Even good managers are being frustrated by this one. It looks like we're seeing more failures [this year]."
Gary Hoette, extension agronomist at Montgomery City, Missouri, on loss of control of waterhemp, a weed which has become an increasing problem in recent years (despite the arrival of Roundup Ready technology, or rather in fact because of it - see 'Troubled Times' report at http://www.biotech-info.net/troubledtimesfinal-1.pdf - nlpwessex)"It's a fantastic year for waterhemp. You know you've got a waterhemp problem when you look across your field and see a red haze in the little weeds coming up."
Don Null, extension agronomist at Grant City, Missouri"It's not uncommon to find a hundred seedlings in two square inches. In research plots at Bradford Farm, June 14, we had waterhemp that was four inches tall. Six days later they were 18 to 20 inches tall." (Roundup is not effective beyond 12 inches - nlpwessex)
Bill Johnson, University of Missouri extension weed specialist"I hope never to see another year like this one"
Laura Sweets, Assistant Professor, extension pathologist and soybean disease specialist with Commercial Agriculture Program, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Missouri
Last year the University of Missouri reported on raised levels of the fusarium fungus pathogen associated with Roundup Ready soy beans. It has also reported increased levels of cracked soy beans at harvest due to dry weather - work has already established that Roundup Ready soy plants are especially vulnerable in drought conditions compared to conventional varieties. This was followed by poor germination from many soy seed bags when planting took place in the spring.
There is a certain irony in all of this as Missouri is home to the global headquarters of Monsanto at St Louis. Still all this disease and pestilence should be good for chemical sales.
Remember, this is supposed to be the world's 'most tested' plant technology. Is that why it yields less and requires more chemicals?
The lower yield of glyphosate resistant varieties is perhaps not entirely surprising given that work by Belgian scientists has now revealed that the genetic modification process has scrambled parts of the DNA of Roundup Ready soy beans:
"Monsanto's technical dossier
submitted for commercial approval claimed that RR soya had a
single insert with the intended order of genes. It turns out not
to be the case. Not only is the gene order of the insert itself
scrambled, the plant DNA at the site of insertion is also
scrambled, and there is a large 534 bp fragment of unknown origin
in there as well".
(ISIS News No 9/10 July 2001)
NATURAL
LAW PARTY WESSEX
nlpwessex@bigfoot.com
www.btinternet.com/~nlpwessex
http://agebb.missouri.edu/news/queries/showcur.idc?story_num=1272&iln=419
Duane Dailey
Senior Writer
Extension & Ag Information
University of Missouri
(573) 882-9181
DaileyF@missouri.edu
July 27, 2001
Editor's Note: Additional sources listed at end of story
COLUMBIA, Mo. - It's been a rough season for the bad-news beans. And the crop is not made yet. Almost every handicap that could confront Missouri's number one cash crop has popped up this year.
Bad seed, bad weather, new insect pests, about every disease in the book, and more bad weather -- it was all there, according to University of Missouri specialists speaking at the Crop Injury Clinic.
Some producers re-planted three times, often after getting flooded out, before getting a stand, according to clinic participants.
"The soybean has an amazing ability to recover," said Bill Wiebold, MU extension soybean specialist. "The plant can lose its growing tip, it can lose 40 percent of its foliage, and still come back to produce a normal crop."
Soybeans, and their problems, were featured in classes and field tours at the annual crop clinic at the MU Bradford Farm east of Columbia.
Two, two-day, clinics with 11 classes each were given to certified crop advisors from across the state.
"We'd given extra attention to corn last year," said Bill Johnson, MU extension weed specialist. "It just happened that we emphasized soybeans this year."
The crop advisors had been confronted with more than the usual number of questions from growers on what was going wrong with their soybeans this year.
Problems started last fall, when drought reduced production of seed beans. But, worse, the dry weather at harvest greatly increased the number of cracked beans, Wiebold said.
This spring, germination on many bags of seed was nearer to 70 percent that the usual 90 percent. "Then we put the seed into cold, wet soil which never seemed to warm up," Wiebold said.
"There were a lot of tough decision to be made, in late June, on whether or not to tear up a weak stand and replant, or to stay with what was there. There was no assurance that a replanted stand could do better."
By the time replant was needed, all of the best seed varieties had been used. Only seed with lower germination was left.
Laura Sweets, extension pathologist with Commercial Agriculture, said, "I hope to never see another year like this one."
Sweets' specialty includes rots, molds, viruses and assorted soybean diseases. Those were in abundance from the time the seed was first put into the ground. Seed with low vigor was especially vulnerable to the wet molds that were plentiful at planting time.
Ben Puttler, MU extension entomologist, said "I don't know what it was this year, but we saw insects eating on soybeans that we've never seen before."
Eldon Dilworth, regional extension agronomist at Edina, Mo., speculated that part of the problem was the wide variation in plant size in adjacent fields. Some beans planted very early came up and got growing, while fields nearby were just emerging.
"There were webworms that devastated 40-acre fields," Puttler said. "We'd never seen that much damage." The worms were found from Nevada, Mo., north to the Iowa state line.
Wayne Bailey, MU entomologist, agreed on the unusual number of pests. "In 15 years I've been here, I've never seen more black cutworms on soybeans.
"Now we're seeing a lot of pod-eating insects building up," Bailey added. "So the crop is still in danger. Farmers should keep scouting their fields."
Michael Boyd, extension entomologist at the MU Delta Center, an instructor, speculated that later planted beans just naturally attract more insect problems. "I know with corn planted after April 16, you almost always have corn earworm. Corn planted before than rarely has a problem."
Wiebold explained that a sparse soybean stand could produce more beans by producing more branches to fill the open space. "Light that gets down into the canopy triggers a hormone that turns on latent buds lower on the plant stems."
The bushy beans set more pods to compensate. However, Wiebold cautioned, harvesting might be more difficult this fall. "Those bushy beans are like trying to harvest tumbleweeds."
Maureen O'Day, program coordinator, said annual courses cover four areas: Soil and water, crop management, nutrients, and pest management. In addition, new areas are added each year. This year those included spray drift management and alternative crops.
Crop advisors are certified for their knowledge in areas ranging from soils to insect control. To maintain certification, they must attend annual training sessions, such as at the Crop Injury Clinic, put on by the MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
Additional Resources: Wayne Bailey (573) 882-2838 Michael Boyd (573) 379-5431 Eldon Dilworth (660) 397-2179 Bill Johnson (573) 882-2001 Maureen O'Day (573) 882-3786 Ben Puttler (573) 882-1457 Laura Sweets (573) 884-7307
Source: Bill Wiebold (573) 882-2001
http://agebb.missouri.edu/news/queries/showarc.idc?story_num=1226&iln=412
Duane Dailey
Senior Writer
Extension & Ag Information
University of Missouri
(573) 882-9181
DaileyF@missouri.edu
June 20, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- "It's a fantastic year for waterhemp," said Don Null, extension agronomist at Grant City, Mo. That's bad news for crop producers.
Farmers must respond quickly to control the fast-growing weeds before they cause crop loss, said Bill Johnson, University of Missouri extension weed specialist. Waterhemp, a member of the Amaranth or pigweed family has become an increasing problem in recent years.
"You know you've got a waterhemp problem when you look across your field and see a red haze in the little weeds coming up," Null said. He has recently noticed waterhemp problems in plots he manages at the MU Hundley-Whaley Farm at Albany in northern Missouri.
Corn planting has been delayed because of frequent rains along the northern tier of Missouri counties. Corn growers in that area should be checking their young corn fields.
"It's past time for controlling waterhemp in most corn across the rest of the state," Johnson said. "However, it can be a real problem in soybeans that are still being planted."
Gary Hoette, extension agronomist at Montgomery City, Mo., said farmers in his area are asking about waterhemp control.
"Even good managers are being frustrated by this one," Hoette said. "It looks like we're seeing more failures [this year]."
Waterhemp is a problem because it grows fast and there can be thousands of the weeds, Johnson said.
Johnson alerted regional extension agronomists to the problem during the weekly teleconference by the MU plant protection group in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources.
"It's not uncommon to find a hundred seedlings in two square inches," Johnson said. "In research plots at Bradford Farm, June 14, we had waterhemp that was four inches tall. Six days later they were 18 to 20 inches tall."
The key to waterhemp control is quick reaction, Johnson said. "The weeds can easily grow two inches a day. That can just overwhelm a soybean crop trying to get up and out of the ground."
Herbicides are most effective when applied before waterhemp reaches four inches tall. Roundup herbicide applied over Roundup Ready soybeans is effective until the weeds are about 12 inches tall.
"Beyond a foot tall, there's not much chemical control," Johnson said.
Taking advantage of the waterhemp situation, Johnson and MU graduate students are starting new studies of management scenarios for the weed.
Waterhemp has a smoother texture and is less hairy than pigweed. Also, the leaves are generally longer and narrower.
If the weeds are allowed to mature, as they might if allowed to escape this year, they can produce 100,000 seeds per plant. That could mean more problems in coming years.
Source: Bill Johnson (573) 882-0619 Don Null (660) 564-3363 Gary Hoette (573) 564-3733
More problems with US herbicide resitant crops - scientific papers - click here
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Will GM crops deliver benefits to farmers? - some realities behind biotechnology myths
Can Organic Agriculture Feed the World?
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