Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) is a serious yield-limiting disease in soybeans, causing losses of approximately $250M annually in the North Central US. The soil-borne pathogen is actively spreading in the US and was first confirmed in North Dakota in Richland County in 2018. Alarmingly, the next confirmation occurred in Cavalier County, hundreds of miles from the initial find. SDS presents a new threat to soybean growers, and with very limited experience in North Dakota, the agricultural community (crop consultants, agents, etc .. ) is poorly prepared to identify and make management recommendations for the disease.

We propose to develop a hands-on short course to educate a critical mass of crop consultants, County agents and other grower-advisors on SDS diagnosis and management. The primary objective of the course is providing enough training so attendees can identify, make management recommendations and ultimately help prevent yield loss to the disease in ND. The course will be hosted by Dr. Dean Malvick (UMN) at the UMN Rosemount Research and Outreach Center in SE MN. Dr. Malvick is an expert on SDS and has some of the best field experiments on the disease in the US. Attendees will be educated on diagnosis, symptomology, seed treatments, genetics and other management tools. Following the event, consultants and agents will be asked to report suspected SDS which will help us understand SDS prevalence in the state. This event builds on a successful short course conducted in 2016 suppo1ied by the NDSC and hosted by the UMN and NDSU.

1. Educate a critical mass of ND Crop Consultants on identification, diagnosis and management of Sudden Death Syndrome.
2. Educate a targeted group of ND Extension agents and specialists on identification, diagnosis and management of Sudden Death Syndrome.
3. Request those educated to submit samples and/or report possible SDS occurrences in ND. Broadly (no individual farms will be identified) create a map of possible/confirmed SDS locations, which can be distributed throughout winter meetings and other outlets.

1. The expertise on SDS among agents and consultants is increased in ND, resulting in proactive management of SDS and a reduction of yield loss.
2. Information related to the possible occurrence of SDS is generated and distributed. This will increase the attention and interest among growers and agricultural community, ultimately, making management of the disease more likely (limiting yield losses).

Update:
This project was cancelled for this year. It may be revisited in 2024.

A critical mass of grower-advisors in ND who can effectively identify and recommend management tools for SDS will 1) help determine how prevalent SDS is in ND, 2) proactively recommend management tools to mitigate yield loss, and 3) increase the conversations and awareness among growers and the agricultural community in the state, making the likelihood that SDS is found early (before high levels of yield loss occur) and managed in growers' fields.