Gage County
1115 West Scott St.,
Beatrice NE 68310
Phone: (402) 223-1384
FAX: (402) 223-1370

News Column

Paul C Hay, Extension Educator

SOYBEAN NEMESIS CURRENT AND FUTURE CHALLENGE

There were several first's last week. It was my first trip to Tampa, Florida, sponsored by the Nebraska Soybean Board and University of Nebraska Lincoln Extension. Good seafood, nice hotel and lots of information about Soybean Cyst Nematodes from super smart professionals, but no beach time and no visits to the Yankee training camp to see Joba. Also last week, Monsanto Company and Divergence announced they have completed the most comprehensive sequence of the soybean cyst nematode genome to-date. The genome sequence will be made available to the public via the National Center for Biotechnology Information website. Interested parties can access this information at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.

Soybean cyst nematodes are by far the most significant yield robber both in the United States and world-wide. The yield lost estimate in the United States currently is one and a half billion dollars per year. The Monsanto announcement along with several Land Grant University research efforts on nematode genetic mapping represent a hopeful future, perhaps 10 or more years out, for new more effective solutions for the soybean cyst nematode problem.

Nebraska is the frontier for the soybean cyst nematode. Missouri River counties are fully involved. The percent of fields infested in Gage County is currently about twenty percent. Soybean cyst nematode is found in all soybean growing areas in Nebraska. Infestation levels are going to continue to grow across the state.

The soybean cyst nematode moves into un-infested fields by soil movement from wind, water, machines and animal movement, especially waterfowl, like our current Snow goose, duck, Canada goose, and even sandhill crane activity.

Nebraska farmers should focus on soil testing soybean cyst nematodes and management plans to keep cyst populations low. These includes rotating crops which the nematodes can't thrive on like corn, wheat, milo, sunflowers and alfalfa with soybeans to hold cyst numbers down. A good rotation for Southeast Nebraska dryland producers would be corn-soybeans-corn-soybeans-wheat. This gives the farmers three out of five years in a non-host crop, plus half the dryland corn planted in a very favorable yield environment on no-till wheat stubble. Irrigated producers are not going to move away from a soybean-corn rotation unless cysts get out of hand.

Ninety eight percent of current soybean varieties resistant to soybean cyst nematode use the PI 88788 resistant line. There is evidence of this resistant line becoming less efficient, but it is still the best line of defense. Farmers should plant half or more of their acres to new varieties each year to keep resistant factors within PI 88788 shifting. The PI 548402 or Peking line of resistance is being used in isolated fields where PI 88788 is no longer effective. The only other option is longer rotations away from soybeans, until research can deliver genetic based resistance someday in the future. The poorest decision a farmer can make is to ignore the threat of soybean cyst nematode.

View other Gage County News Columns & News Letters: http://gage.unl.edu/news/news.htm

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EXTENSION is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.