SCN Numbers Likely to Increase After Summer 2020, Make Plans For Rotation

SCN females on roots. Photo: The SCN Coalition

Be Alert of Increased SCN Numbers This Fall From Dry Summer Weather

The mostly rain-free summer we had kept away most foliar diseases in field crops. However, those same conditions were ideal for a pest to thrive.

“Soybean cyst nematodes love dry soil,” said Dr. Greg Tylka, nematologist with The SCN Coalition. “The numbers increase more in dry soils, so I’m a bit fearful about what’s happened across the Midwest with the dry conditions we’ve endured in 2020.”

Tylka said these increased numbers mean two things.

“One, we need to worry about how it affected our soybean yields in 2020,” he said. “I’m always looking ahead, so you’ve got to wonder what this means for the future.”

If you follow a typical corn-soybean rotation, corn shouldn’t be affected. However, Tylka says you should be concerned about your soybeans in 2022. But if you have the opportunity to throw another crop into that rotation, it might not be a bad idea.

“We’re probably going to be starting off with higher numbers and the higher number you start with, the greater the damage,” said Tylka. “That would give it a little more time for the numbers to drop before a field that had soybeans in 2020 in Michigan was back into soybeans. Obviously that’s a field-by-field and farmer-by-farmer situation.”

The SCN Coalition has created a video series called “Let’s Talk Todes” with university researchers, farmers, and organizations to share best management practices for SCN.

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