Ohio soybeans may take hit from flood injury

OHIO - "Soybean plants subjected to flooded conditions get stunted and stay short the rest of the season," said Anne Dorrance, an Ohio State University plant pathologist with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC).

"Fewer pods also develop, which reduces yields, but it's not a 100-percent loss."

According to studies conducted by Ohio State University soybean researchers and OSU Extension Educators, soybean plants sitting in one to two inches of water for up to a week take anywhere from a 20 to 50 percent yield hit, depending on the variety and the drainage situation in the field.

"We have seen in some of these studies plants recovering in places where the field does get to dry out and temperatures don't get too hot," said Dorrance. "But we also have places were the plants are just wiped out."

Because of the flooding conditions in some areas of the state, fields have been replanted, and a growing concern if rains continue is that it will become harder for plants to recover because of the presence of diseases. Saturated conditions have opened the door for diseases, such as Pythium and Phytophthora root rot.

Source: AgProfessional

30 June 2006