It has been several years since soybean rust has been confirmed in Missouri. But it would be a mistake to forget about this disease or think that it will never be a problem in the state. This is year when growers in the southern part of the state, especially southeast Missouri should be scouting for the disease and paying attention to reports from southern states as well as to the weather. There are factors which could lead to the occurrence of the disease in Missouri this year as well as factors which make it unlikely that even if the disease did occur it would cause yield losses.

Soybean Rust
Factors increasing the potential for soybean rust include the earlier than normal development of soybean rust on soybeans in the southern United States. Thus far in 2013, soybean rust has been reported in 24 counties in Alabama, 18 counties in Georgia, 18 counties in Florida, 12 counties in Mississippi, 10 parishes in Louisiana, 7 counties in South Carolina and 2 counties in Arkansas. In many of these areas, soybean rust occurred 2-3 weeks earlier than normal. The IPM PIPE web site can still be accessed through https://sbr.ipmpipe.org for current information on the distribution of soybean rust in the United States.
A second concern is that fact that late planting because of wet conditions last spring means that the soybean crop in Missouri is behind normal. If weather patterns occurred that would carry rust spores from the south to Missouri, there might be more fields in susceptible stages of growth.