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White Mold Now and in the Future 08/25/09 2:29:42 PM
White Mold management is a frustrating effort. White mold infects our soybean crop prematurely killing off soybean plants and robbing yield. There are several experts telling us what is effective and what is not in the way of white mold management. Here is my 2 cents on the subject.
There are three ways to attack white mold:
1: Surrender and plant corn.
2: Fight the Fungus during Soybean Growing Season.
A: Choose Resistant Varieties. Soybean resistance to white mold is not perfect. Even the most resistant varieties are susceptible to heavy infestations of the white mold fungus.
B: Spray 6 ounces Cobra at R1. R1 is the stage when the first flowers appear on the plant. The Cobra can be added to your Round Up Application
if the timing is right.
C: Apply 4 ounces of Domark fungicide at R3. R3 stage is reached when there is a pod 3/16 of an inch long at one of the 4 uppermost nodes on the soybean plant. This year that application would have been about August 1 to the 10th. Because your last application of Round-Up should be before the end of July, usually your fungicide and Round up will need to be made on separate trips. I would apply the fungicide with a ground applicator with plenty of water and pressure. In the most years, I would add an insecticide to the fungicide application.
All this being said, in a year like this you will see white mold killing off soybeans in your field even after you did everything right. The conditions for the development of white mold have been ideal, and the pressure is extreme. The best we can expect is reducing the number of beans that will prematurely die.
Approximate Cost: $26.50
This process needs precise timing and can be moderately ineffective.
3: Eliminate the White Mold Fungus before you plant your soybeans.
Contans WG is a biological fungicide that feeds on the white mold resting bodies, or sclerotia. (These are the “rat turds” that grow in the stem of the soybean plants infected with white mold. Apply 1 pound per acre of Contans in the fall of the year. Contans must be worked into the soil about 4 inches deep. Coniothyrium minitans strain Con/M/91-08 (Contans) will build up in your soil and feed on the white mold fungus. It will continue to grow and feed on White Mold until White mold Sclerotia has been reduced to an economical level. You can also apply Contans to soybean stubble intended for beans 2 years out.
Approximate Cost: $ 26.00
This program makes sense to me. Eliminate the source of White Mold instead of treating the effects of White Mold.
This Product will sell out and has to be ordered early. Contact your Northern Partners Agronomy Sales Staff for additional information.
Dan Milner, Agronomy Sales
Northern Partners Cooperative
Other sources of information on Contans WG:
University of Illinois Bulletin, July 24, 2009
http://ipm.illinois.edu/bulletin/article.php?id=1195
National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/whitmold.pdf
Wallaces Farmer article, August 25, 2009
http://www.wallacesfarmer.com/story.aspx?s=31020
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