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Red crown rot expansion in 2024 cause for concern in 2025

A field agronomist with Burrus Seed says soybean growers need to be wary of red crown rot in 2025.

Missouri-based Dana Harder says the disease has spread since its initial arrival in the Midwest in Illinois in 2018.

“And some of the severity was more intense than what we noticed in previous years.”  He says, “In particular, we’ve seen it move into Missouri and some new territory there. So, it’s one of those diseases once it’s present in the soil, you’ll have it for years to come, and it’s suspected that it spreads through equipment.”

He tells Brownfield the disease, which can be confused with Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), can cause yield losses of up 50%.

“And if you’re driving by a soybean field and you dismiss it as a sudden death syndrome, you might want to get out there and you want to pull those plants and look at the color of those roots.”  He says, “If you see a red discoloration, chances are you could have red crown rot.”

Harder says most seed companies are still in the early stages of rating varieties for red crown rot tolerance, so seed treatments are currently the best protection.

“That’s gonna be your most effective treatment going forward.”  He says, “I know many growers in western Illinois where we didn’t have a product like that, and losses were severe, so it’s good to be proactive.”

He says farmers can work with their agronomist to come up with the best plan of action against red crown rot.

AUDIO: Dana Harder – Burrus Seed