13 October
Some additional reports from various areas have arrived in the last two days. These include the first report from Illinois (Pope County in the far southern part of the state), Fulton County in far western KY, and others near the existing source regions in LA, AL, and NC. At this time, rust has been found on soybeans in 98 counties in 10 different states (AL, FL, GA, IL, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, and TX). The county total jumps to 120 when infections on kudzu are included. State totals: 13 in Alabama; 18 in Florida and South Carolina ; 24 in Louisiana; 15 in Georgia; 3 in Texas and Mississippi; 17 in North Carolina; 8 in Kentucky, and 1 in Illinois.

11 October 2006
The first confirmed oubreak of soybean rust on soybeans in Kentucky has been reported. The first find was in a sentinel plot located in Princeton (Caldwell County) in the western part of the state last Friday, October 6. Since then, soybean rust has been confirmed in 6 additional counties clustered in the same vicinity. We will be adding this site to the forecasts for the time being. Negligible impacts are expected from this outbreak to any soybean crops. Preliminary investigation at the Forecast Center shows there were several tranport events that may have brought soybean rust to western KY from areas to the south: September 11, September 15, and September 22. While any or all of these may have occurred, at this time the September 22 event from the LA source region appears the most plausible. Factors supporting the outbreak include generally favorable temperatures and a very wet September for western KY (The Paducah, KY NWS site recorded 11.65" for the month and ~5" during the September 22-23 period, for example). Soybean rust has also been confirmed in other counties scattered in the South since our last update. Most have been near known sources, with one exception in northern AL.

2 October 2006
Soybean Rust continues to spread in the Carolinas. SC now reports 17 counties with ASR. The first find of soybean rust in NC came from a mobile sentinel plot on Thursday, September 14, in Columbus County. Discoveries were made the following week in several other counties in southeast NC; last week 6 additional counties in eastern NC were added to the list. A new source has been added for eastern NC to account for the epidemic spread in this region. Soybean rust has also been confirmed in additional counties in FL, GA, and LA over the past two weeks. Overall, 63 counties in 8 states (FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, SC, and NC) have confirmed soybean rust on soybeans, with the number jumping to 83 counties in these states when kudzu is included.

15 September 2006
We have the first report of soybean rust from North Carolina in 2006. The find was on a mobile sentinel plot in Columbus County, in the southeast portion of the state along the SC border. Samples from 3 fields showed disease. Incidence and severity were generally low, although one field was showing incidence of around 50%. This find, along with all the others popping up in SC and east-central GA, will be grouped together for forecasting purposes for the time being.

11 September
Soybean rust has been confirmed in additional counties in SC (Anderson, Colleton, Dorchester, Horry, and Lee), bringing the total in that state to 10. All but the Dorchester County discovery are in sentinel sites. Catahoula County, LA has it's first report, this from a commercial field. These counties are near or adjacent to existing source regions.

18 May 2006
There have been no new counties reporting soybean rust since the last update in late March. There are no new reports of soybean rust on newly planted soybeans in 2006l. March and most of April have been quite dry in the Southeast this year. However, rainfall has been at or above normal along the Gulf Coast for the past several weeks. Soybean rust infections that had gone dormant during the dry period may be undergoing some revitalization. One instance of this was recently observed in Gadsden County, FL. Soybean sentinel plots have been planted in almost all locations, with those in the South well-advanced. Kudzu is near full greening in many locations across the South.

24 March 2006
There are 21 confirmed counties with rust so far in 2006. Twenty of the discoveries are on kudzu and one is on soybean. Five are in AL, four in GA, eleven in FL, and one in TX. There has been an effort to destroy or remove host material in some locations. Kudzu is greening up in the Gulf Coast region, including FL; southern sections of GA, AL, and MS; much of LA, and portions of TX.

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