Episode 1 of 21 is entitled ‘Rust Never sleeps’ and will really be focused on soybean rust or ASR. This episode is sponsored by Pannar Seed. The studio guest for this show is Grant Pringle, a product agronomist with many years of field experience.
The title of the podcast comes from Neil Young’s 1979 rock album. He was likely referring to iron oxidation not ASR, but the same principle applies… you cannot get complacent with ASR. Antony and Grant discuss the current cropping season. Sclerotinia has been a major problem and farmers have been dealing with it in different ways. The rooting and nodulation habits of soybean are also discussed, before the main topic, soybean rust is considered in depth.
The history of soybean rust is touched on, and how fortunate the country was to have neighbouring Zimbabwe get the infection before RSA. This gave the research community the ability to prepare and reduce the impact of the disease when it arrived. The disease triangle is discussed with reference to the source of the inoculum, the environmental conditions required for infection and the susceptibility of the soybean host. The areas of production that are most affected, the strategies used for timing spray applications, and the way that this fits into production practice are debated. Finally, it is concluded that the nett effect of soybean rust has been to add a level of complexity to production but is has in doing so probably lifted the average yields in the affected areas. The crops are looked after better, the insect control is better, the grain quality has improved, and the crops are staying photosynthetically active longer.