CUSTAR, Ohio -- Ohio crop growers, seed company agronomists, retailers and other agriculture professionals will spend time up close and personal with diseased soybeans during a workshop held by Ohio State University experts that offers in-depth training on fungicide application, genetic resistance thresholds and other information related to soybean disease.
The goal is to provide participants the opportunity for hands-on identification of live plant diseases in order to better prepare them for disease identification in the fields this year, said Alan Sundermeier, an Ohio State University Extension educator who is among a group of Ohio State experts to offer the workshop Feb. 14 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s Northwest Agricultural Research Station.
The workshop is the first in a series to be held this year designed to offer hands-on identification of live plant diseases, Sundermeier said. While the Feb. 14 workshop is full, subsequent workshops on the issue will be held throughout the spring, summer and fall based on the popularity of the issue with agriculture professionals, he said.
The soybean workshops will include presentations on Ohio State soybean population research, using cereal rye cover crops, cultural practices to improve yield, northwest Ohio soybean diseases, genetic disease resistance, thresholds and fungicide use, and future soybean disease issues. There will also be a hands-on soybean disease identification session.
“The success of this workshop will lead to offering more workshops throughout the state,” Sundermeier said. “The workshops use plants grown in a greenhouse to allow participants to view the plants up close to look at the disease symptoms.
“It’s one thing to see a photo of a diseased plant but it’s another thing to hold it and inspect it. That will lead to better identification next summer in the fields.”
Hands-on demonstrations will help growers make better decisions on their farms when faced with these challenges, said Anne Dorrance, a plant pathologist with joint appointments with OSU Extension and OARDC, who will talk about genetic disease resistance, pathogen biology and thresholds, and fungicide use during the workshop.
“The science is changing and the industry is changing, just like any other career,” she said. “So growers and other agriculture professionals have to keep up-to-date with what is changing as well.”
The soybean workshops that will be held in the spring, summer and fall will likely use plants that are grown in greenhouses as well as include live demonstrations in the field, Sundermeier said.
The dates have not yet been finalized for the remaining workshops, he said.
For more information on fungicide application, genetic resistance thresholds and other information related to soybean disease, individuals can call Alan Sundermeier at 419-354-9050, or contact him through email at sundermeier.5@osu.edu. Individuals can also call Anne Dorrance at 330-202-3560 or contact her through email at dorrance.1@osu.edu.
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