Farmers and ag professionals can learn how to identify and manage soybean cyst nematode (SCN) at a UNL Extension field day this Thursday (Sept. 4) near Bassett.

Last year, soybean cyst nematodes cost Nebraska soybean growers over $45 million, more than all other soybean diseases combined. If you have SCN in your fields and are not managing it, you contributed to that loss.

SCN often goes undetected in the field. Yield losses of 20-30% have been documented in Nebraska fields with no above-ground symptoms. If SCN caused holes, lesions, spots, or other plant abnormalities, it would be much easier to convince producers to test for and manage it. However, infested plants usually look healthy. Often, the first indication of a problem is when soybean yields level off or even start to drop while corn or other crop yields in the same field continue to improve.

What would a six-bushel yield increase on your soybean acres do for your bottom line? That's the average yield increase at 29 UNL research trials when resistant varieties were compared to top yielding susceptible varieties on SCN-infested sites. In addition to direct yield losses, SCN has been linked to an increase in the occurrence and severity of sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soybeans.

Northeast Nebraska Exhibits Greater SCN Effect

SCN scouting is extremely important for producers in northeast Nebraska, where losses at five trials showed a 12.5-bushel yield advantage to SCN-resistant varieties in infested fields compared to a 4.5 bu/ac average yield advantage for 24 other Nebraska sites. Several factors including soil texture and pH may contribute to this larger loss in northeast Nebraska.

Something else that illustrates the importance of scouting for SCN in this area is that out of more than 1,000 soil samples submitted to UNL in 2013, the five highest egg counts came from Knox, Antelope, Rock, Cuming and Rock counties.

Sept. 4 Program

At the SCN Management Field Day site, you will be able to:

• examine cysts on soybean roots,
• learn how to identify and manage SCN infestations,
• receive bags for free SCN analyses — a $25/bag value,
• get answers to your SCN questions, and
• enjoy a complimentary meal and visit informally with experts.

The Rock County SCN Management Field Day will be held on the Greg Pospichal farm. To get there, go 1 mile north of Bassett on Highway 7, 1 mile west, ½ mile north, and 1 mile west. The field day will be on the south side of the road.  The program will begin at  6:30 p.m. and end with a light meal after the program.

Originally identified in counties bordering the Missouri River, soybean cyst nematode has been identified in 54 counties in eastern and central Nebraska as far west as McCook.

The Soybean Cyst Nematode Management Field Day is presented by UNL Extension. For more information, contact your local UNL Extension office.