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Knowing SCN numbers key to managing yield loss in soybeans

An extension plant pathologist says soil tests are critical to help manage soybean cyst nematode.

Dylan Mangel with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln says farmers can test their soils year-round.

“Some other nematodes will move throughout the year up and down the soil profile. It’s hard to get them and you have to sample at the right time,” he said. “With soybean cyst nematode, if you take soil from that top six or eight inches and put it in a bag from the previous soybean root zone, that’s all you need to see if that nematode is in there.”

He tells Brownfield knowing your SCN numbers helps determine the appropriate management strategies to implement for your fields.

“I tell growers if they have a soil probe or a shovel, just put some of that soil in a bag and bring it to us,” he said. “We’ll tell you if there’s nematodes in there impacting your soybeans.”

According to the SCN Coalition, SCN costs soybean farmers an estimated $1.5 billion annually in the U.S.