Weather is certain…once it arrives. Soybean rust is not. That's why weather triumphed over rust, at least this time, and wiped out the west-central Indiana soybean rust meeting slated for Thursday, January 6 at the Beef House near Covington, Ind. It was one of a series of meetings sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Growers Association and the Indiana Soybean Board.
Delinda Peutz, speaking for ISGA and ISB, reported that the meeting is reset for January 19. All meetings in the series begin at 9:30 a.m. local time, and run until 2:30 p.m. Sponsors provide a working lunch. The program is free to farmers.
Other soy rust meetings in the series include: January 12, Omni North Hotel, Indianapolis; January 14, Quality Inn, Vincennes; January 17, Washington Center Marriott, Ft. Wayne; and January 21, Knight of Columbus Hall, Winamac.
Other groups, including Purdue University, are cooperating in this effort. Everything from control of rust o agronomic and economic issues will be discussed.
In addition, Purdue will hold its own set of soybean rust meetings. Consult your local extension ag educator for dates and times. Many local fertilizer and chemical dealers are also sponsoring meetings on rust for customers.
A farmer who attended one such meeting came home saying, "They don't know much more about rust than I do." But that's not a slap on the presenters. There are simply more questions than answers about soybean rust in the U.S. right now.
The latest quandary is whether cold weather in December penetrated far enough south to wipe out rust overwintering on kudzu vines deep in the South. Only time will tell. If it did, then the fungi's spread would be slowed.
What the meeting accomplished, the farmer told us, was putting the rust issue in perspective. He felt more able to lay out pros and cons of many issues, from planting changes to getting ready to spray, afterwards.