The projects overall objective and goal is to implement a monitoring system for Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) in the Southwestern part of South Carolina. The monitoring system is a safety net that will help identify when ASR is present in SC. Allowing soybean growers ample time to make management decisions for their farms.

implement a monitoring system for Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) in the Southwestern part of South Carolina. The monitoring system is a safety net that will help identify when ASR is present in SC. Allowing soybean growers ample time to make management decisions for their farms.

Results from the monitoring program will be reported to growers, agricultural industry professionals, and Clemson Extension personnel through weekly email news notes during the months of July – October. Information will also be reported to the SC Soybean Board through the expected quarterly reports.

Updated April 13, 2021:
At this time growers are being identified that will be planting early soybeans, so that those fields can be sampled first. Also we have identified locations of kudzu that have already started to green up. We will sample the kudzu sites first and will begin doing that in late April early May.

Updated July 9, 2021:
At this time growers fields have been identified that will be used for scouting. We are currently waiting on those fields to start blooming to begin sampling. We have been sampling kudzu but have not identified any ASR in SC. We will begin sending out the Soybean Rust News Note on July 15th with our findings and recommendations for soybean producers in SC. At this time we anticipate the possibility of ASR being found in the next two weeks due to the potential deposit of spores from a recent tropical storm that passed over SC.

Updated October 12, 2021:
Asian Soybean Rust was identified in SC on August 26th, by Joe Varn. It was found in Bamberg County first. After this find we recommended that growers consider treating high yield potential soybeans with a foliar fungicide to prevent/treat soybean rust. This was communicated with growers, Extension personnel and Ag Industry through email news note and Clemson Crops Blog. Between August 26th and September 3rd soybean rust was identified in two additional counties Barnwell and Dorchester.

Updated December 13, 2021:
Asian Soybean Rust was identified in SC on August 26th, by Joe Varn. It was found in Bamberg County first. After this find we recommended that growers consider treating high yield potential soybeans with a foliar fungicide to prevent/treat soybean rust. This was communicated with growers, Extension personnel and Ag Industry through email news note and Clemson Crops Blog. Between August 26th and September 3rd soybean rust was identified in two additional counties Barnwell and Dorchester. Between September 3rd and October 15th we continued to examine leaves from the Savannah Valley region counties and expanded to include counties outside of the Savannah Valley region. In doing this we determined soybean rust was present in 8 more counties, 4 in the Savannah Valley region and 4 outside of the Savannah Valley Region. By October 15th even the latest planted soybeans were mature enough that risk from soybean rust was very low.

Project Summary
The projects overall objective and goal was to implement a monitoring system for Asian Soybean Rust (ASR) in the Southwestern part of South Carolina. The monitoring system is intended to be a safety net that will help identify when ASR is present in SC, allowing soybean growers ample time to make management decisions for their farms.

For the 2021 season, we began sampling kudzu sites in Hampton and Allendale County the first week of April. No ASR was identified in kudzu in 2021. Sampling of soybean monitoring sites started the week of July 12th. We continued to sample soybean fields as part of the official sampling until the end of September at which time the SC soybean crop was no longer at risk for yield loss from ASR. To fully document the spread of ASR in SC during 2021 we continued sampling until mid-October.

The first News Note was sent out to growers, agents and agricultural industry representatives on July 16, 2021. The first ASR identified in soybeans in SC occurred on August 26th, in Bamberg County. This was identified by Joe Varn. At that time weather conditions were conducive for the spread of ASR in SC and we made recommendations in the News Note that soybean growers, consider the use of foliar fungicides for the control or prevention of ASR.

At the end of September, we sent out our last official note. Agents expanded the sampling area to document how many counties rust spread to during the growing season. At the conclusion of sampling in mid-October ASR had been identified in Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Berkeley, Calhoun, Clarendon, Colleton, Darlington, Dorchester, Hampton, and Newberry Counties.

Key Performance Indicators
A weekly summary of the sampling results was emailed to soybean producers, ag industry professionals, University and Extension personnel as planned. The sampling and summary emails began on July 16, 2021 and concluded at the end of September 2021. There are approximately 450 individuals on the email distribution list used for the weekly emailing of the Soybean Rust News Note.

Early detection of ASR if it was to spread into SC during the 2021 crop season.