Will SDS Be Back in Indiana in 2017?
Sudden Death Syndrome is a major yield robber in soybeans which was present in the 2016 Hoosier soybean crop. Will it be back in 2017, and are you ready to control it?? The microbe that causes SDS stays in the soil year after year, but weather conditions determine if the disease becomes a problem. In 2016 it was an issue in many parts of Indiana, but it showed up much earlier than normal. Rodney Tocco, with Bayer crop science, says, “It typically shows up around the time of the State Fair, but this year in NW Indiana and around Columbus in SE Indiana it showed up in late July and early August.” The likelihood of SDS in 2017 will depend in large part on the weather, especially moisture levels.
Tocco says seed treatments like ILeVO® have proven to be a great defense against SDS, “In a field where you see evidence of the disease, we have seen about a 4 to 10 bushel return on investment. Even with no evidence of the disease, use of the product can generate about a 2 bushel return, which basically pays for the product.”
Tocco told HAT, in addition to combating SDS, ILeVO® also protects against another major soybean yield robber, cyst nematode, “Ironically, if we compare maps of where SDS and cyst nematodes are present, they match up very closely.” He added ILeVO® is the first seed treatment product for soybeans that offers protection against Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) and nematodes in the seed zone throughout the critical growing period.