<b>By ANN HINCH<br>
Assistant Editor</b> </p><p>

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Asian soybean rust was first documented in the United States in the 1980s, in Hawaii, according to Raymond Schneider, though the continental U.S. didn’t really get caught up in looking for it until Brazil reported its first infestations just after the turn of the new century.</p><p>
“Before rust, we all worked in our states with very little inter-regional collaboration,” he said, pointing out if nothing else, Asian soybean rust has unified researchers and extension educators across state lines.</p><p>
Schneider, professor with the Department of Plant Pathology at Louisiana State University, said the first national soybean rust symposium to bring together experts was in 1995; the third – which he coordinated – was held last week in Louisville, sponsored by the American Phytopathological Society.</p><p>
To him, the preparation paid off; when he finally identified for the first time on the mainland in November 2004, in Louisiana, the Environmental Protection Agency worked quickly to approve Section 18 fungicides for 2005 growers, and research funds were made available “on short order” at the federal and state levels.</p><p>
Crop advisors, researchers and extension educators have identified this particular fungus in various parts of the middle and eastern U.S. – and this fall, as far north as Ontario, Canada – but as USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Merle Pierson pointed out, the country hasn’t had a full-blown epidemic. Yet.</p><p>
The reasons for this have been a combination of preparation and luck. Extension and other personnel have been educating thousands of farmers in many states about scouting and fungicide application, based on studies and advance warning from their Brazilian counterparts, who first encountered the Asian rust in 2001. Assistant Professor Carl Bradley of the University of Illinois Crop Sciences Department said in 2005, the pathogen was documented in 131 counties across eight states; that number doubled for both counties and states the following year.</p><p>
This year, he said Asian rust has been confirmed in 301 counties across 19 states, including as far west as Oklahoma and in 14 Iowa counties – the northernmost reach thus far in the United States. The season began early in January, with rust found on kudzu patches in Alabama, Florida and Georgia, and it crept north and west through the past 11 months. “As we get later in the season, especially October, that’s the month when that map really seems to get moving,” Bradley said of an animated map showing the rust’s spread month by month.</p><p>
He explained a survey conducted earlier this year showed that farmers sprayed approximately 1.34 million total acres for Asian rust, as recommended, with heavier concentrations in the Southeast, the area with most reports of it over the past three years.</p><p>
In 2005 and 2006, it seems most cases of rust were reported toward the end of the soybean growing season and as a result, damage was not widespread.</p><p>
This year, Bradley said while the April freeze across the country and the summer drought in the Southeast may have set farmers’ teeth on edge, they may have also played a big part in inhibiting Asian rust growth and spread.</p><p>
Though the spore is still relatively new in terms of being studied in the western hemisphere, what is known is that it cannot abide too long in freezing or dry conditions.</p><p>
Pierson added lack of hurricane activity in the Gulf may have helped, as well (since it is generally believed the violent 2004 hurricane season is what blew spores into the country).</p><p>
Pierson said federal agencies, including the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS), have devoted millions of dollars to research and prevention.</p><p>
Private organizations are doing the same, he added, including checkoff dollars from such agencies as the United Soybean Board.
The sentinel-plot program and USDA’s Asian rust tracking website – available for public viewing – are overseen by ARS scientists and land-grant university researchers.</p><p>
Pierson said in 2005, farmers saved an estimated $299 million in fungicide costs alone by following the site and applying only when advised it was needed and would do the most good.
He explained fungicides are only a short-term solution; the real “foundation of the fight” is to develop disease-resistant seed varieties.</p><p>
“Education remains an essential part of prevention” as well, he said, pointing to extension programs on Asian rust and events such as the national symposium, which brought U.S. researchers together with speakers from South America and Mexico, as prime examples.