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URBANDALE,
Iowa - The Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) in partnership with Iowa State University (ISU) has published its third field guide this year, the Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) Management Field Guide.
The booklet contains the latest research results on SCN and is a pocket-sized reference for managing the yield-robbing pest. The guide is authored by Dr. Gregory Tylka, ISU Extension professor and plant pathologist, and focuses on scouting fields, management techniques, interactions of SCN with other diseases and the HG type test, which is conducted to determine how well an SCN population can reproduce on SCN-resistant sources.
Improving soybean yield is key to profitability for producers, and SCN is the nation’s number one yield robber of soybeans. According to Dr. David Wright, director of contract research and strategic initiatives at ISA, SCN can be found in every county in Iowa except Allamakee County.
“Once a field is infested, it will always be infested,” Wright says, “SCN cannot be eliminated, but producers can remain profitable by managing SCN properly. If you have not tested for SCN in the last three years, you should pull soil samples for analysis.”
Tylka agrees that the best way to handle SCN is to use effective management practices to keep populations down.
“It’s much easier to keep low numbers low than to drive high numbers down,” Tylka says.
The new SCN management field guide is available through the ISU Extension Distribution Center. Producers can get a copy at no cost by calling 515-294-5247 and requesting publication CSI 12.
The Iowa Soybean Association
develops policies and programs that help farmers expand profit opportunities
while promoting environmentally sensitive production using the soybean
checkoff and other resources. The Association is governed by an elected
volunteer board of 21 farmers.
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