The aftermath of this year's unusual growing season will continue into harvest, therefore be prepared to look-out for potential soybean seed diseases such as Phomposis seed mould. Although Phompsis seed mould has traditionally been Ontario's most destructive seed disease, the previous two growing seasons have not been very good for Phomopsis development. Purple seed stain, white mould and soybean mosaic virus. The first is witnessed on the stems and pods and we refer to this phase of the disease as pod and stem blight.
Infected seed is light weight, shrunken with numerous fine cracks.
The fungus grows completely over the seed coat resulting in a white, crusty and chaulky appearance. Unfortunately, the warm, wet weather during pod fill this year has been ideal for disease development. This is especially true in areas that have experienced prolonged wet periods during pod fill. The concern is if cool, wet weather results in any harvest delay this fall, the amount of disease and the associated losses will increase. The fungus can survive in soil, within crop residues and infected seed.