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High soil pH could trigger iron deficiency chlorosis in soybeans

An agronomist says soybeans grown in the Upper Midwest could be susceptible to iron deficiency chlorosis.

Brian Ternus with Mustang Seeds tells Brownfield IDC happens when the crop cannot take up enough iron.

“A lot of times with the pH being above 7 kind of forms some free carbonates in there that interfere with the ability of the soybean plant when it exudes its acids to dissolve the iron and get it into a solution to take up. It interferes with that process.”

He tells Brownfield symptoms of IDC don’t usually appear until V2 or V3.

“You get the second, third, fourth trifoliates out there is when you typically start seeing the chlorosis in the plants. And then later on as (soybeans) get a little farther along in its development it can generally overcome those and those plants will start to green up later on, unless it’s a pretty severe area.”

Ternus says if the IDC is severe, soybean yields could be reduced by 20 to 30 percent.