New research reveals that soil pH is a useful guide for farmers
and agronomists to detect and manage soybean cyst nematode
(SCN). The investigation uncovered a relationship between high
soil pH, which is already outside the ideal growing conditions
for soybean, and high SCN populations. Scientists from Iowa
State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison reported
their findings in the July-August 2010 Crop Science, published
by the Crop Science Society of America. Conducted on sites in
both Iowa and Wisconsin, the study confirmed the relationship
between high soil pH and SCN, which results in a lower yield.
Soybean cyst nematode is the single most damaging pathogen of
soybean in the U.S., as well as in most of the other top
soybean-producing countries of the world. Infestations may go
unnoticed for years due to the lack of above-ground symptoms,
leading to producers to unknowingly suffer yield declines. This
makes calculating economics losses difficult, but yearly losses
have been estimated at about $1.5