Excessive rain and extremely dry weather in varying parts of
Illinois are responsible for two quite different diseases
showing up in soybean fields across the state. Symptoms of
charcoal rot are being spotted in dry areas of southern
Illinois, and sudden death syndrome (SDS) has been found in wet
areas across the state, reports University of Illinois Extension
Plant Pathologist Carl Bradley. "When we find both 'wet' and
'dry' diseases in the same year, it proves how different the
spectrum of disease is under varying environmental conditions,"
Bradley says. Typically charcoal rot and SDS show up in
different years. But this year, with the varying rainfall across
the state, these two diseases are popping up. Charcoal rot can
be identified by individual plants or patches of wilted and dead
plants, Bradley says. In affected plants, gray to black "specks"
are apparent on the lower stem when the epidermis is shaved off
with a knife. "These 'specks' are the survival structures of the
soilborne fungus Macrophomina ph