History of Soybean Rust
	What is the Missouri Department of Agriculture Doing?
	What are the Symptoms of Soybean Rust?
	What Can Producers Do?
	To Learn More
	USDA Photos

Soybean rust was first observed in Japan in 1902. After it got a foothold, the fungus began to spread quickly:

• 1934 — Other Asian nations and Australia
• 1951 — India
• 1996 — Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda
• 2000 — Mozambique
• 2001 — Paraguay
• 2002 — Parts of Brazil and northern Argentina
• 2003 — Brazil
• 2004 — Continental United States

What is the Missouri Department of Agriculture Doing?

Since the discovery of soybean rust in other countries, and considering the fact that the disease is a highly contagious air-borne pathogen, it was not a question of “if,” but a question of “when” the disease would be discovered in the U.S.

For the past two years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency (APHIS) has been working with state departments of agriculture to develop a strategic plan for combating soybean rust. The Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) has adopted this National Strategic Action Plan. Also, MDA continues to take appropriate preparatory steps in educating producers and encouraging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve additional fungicides that would help with the treatment of soybean rust.

In addition to the strategic plan, Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) authorizes EPA to exempt a state or federal agency from the provisions of FIFRA if EPA determines that emergency pest conditions exist.

Current Registered Pesticides for Use to
Control Asian Soybean Rust

Common Name:	Active Ingredient:
Quadris	Azoxystrobin
Pristine (with pyraclostrobin)	Boscalid
Bravo Weather Stick; Echo 720; Echo 90DF; EQUUS 720 SST; EQUUS DF	Chlorothalonil
Headline	Pyraclostrobin

Current ingredients approved for emergency use until November 10, 2007:

Pesticides Approved for Emergency Use

Common Name:	Active Ingredient:
Tilt; Propimax; Bumper	Propiconazole
Folicur 3.6F; Orius 3.6F; Uppercut	Tebuconazole
Laredo EC and Laredo EW	Myclobutanil
Stratego	Trifloxystrobin + Propiconazole
Domark 230ME	Tetraconazole
Quilt	Propiconazole + Azoxystrobin
Headline SBR	Pyraclostrobin + Tebuconazole
Alto 100SL	Cyproconazole

What are the Symptoms of Soybean Rust?

• Small lesions on the lower leaves that increase in size and change from gray to tan or reddish brown on the undersides of the leaves.
   
• Lesions are most common on leaves but may occur on petioles, stems and pods.
   
• Tan lesions, when mature, consist of small pustules surrounded by slightly discolored necrotic area with masses of tan spores on the lower leaf surface.
   
• Reddish brown lesions have a larger reddish brown necrotic area, with a limited number of pustules and few visible spores on the lower leaf surface. Once pod set begins on soybean, infection can spread rapidly to the middle and upper leaves of the plant.

What Can Producers Do?

To assist producers in the defense against the spread of soybean rust, MDA offers the following suggestions:

• Educate yourself on the disease. Learn to distinguish between soybean rust and other soybean foliage diseases that are already present in Missouri.
   
• Know your fields. Surveying and scouting of land is important to early detection of the disease.
   
• Question irregular growth patterns. The University of Missouri Extension Soil Testing and Plant Diagnostic Services tests soybean tissue to determine the presence of soybean rust. For more information on submitting samples, visit http://agebb.missouri.edu/pdc/rust.htm or call (573) 882-3019.
   
• Budget for the extra cost of fungicides. USDA estimates a cost increase of 15% (or approximately $25 per acre) to apply fungicides.

To Learn More, Contact:

1. Missouri Department of Agriculture’s Plant Industries Division at (573) 751-2462.
    
2. University of Missouri Extension soybean rust website has a guide sheet, information on crop budgets, sample submission, and fungicides labeled, plus links to efficacy trials and USDA soybean rust sites at http://agebb.missouri.edu/mgt/soyrust/.
    
3. Missouri Soybean Association by visiting www.mosoy.org.
    
4. USDA-APHIS by visiting www.aphis.usda.gov or call the USDA Industry Hotline at (888) 703-4457.
    
5. Additional materials can be found at:
   http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ppq/ep/soybean_rust/
   http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/faq_phsoybeanrust.html
   http://www.ers.usda.gov/Features/SoyBeanRust/

USDA Photos:

Figure 1--Typical foliar symptoms of soybean rust

Figure 2--Pustules on under surface of soybean leaf