White Mold Remains Costly Threat to Soybean Growers

The aggressive disease can lead to significant yield losses without timely treatment.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Crop specialists are warning soybean growers to keep white mold top of mind as the growing season progresses.

Ken Deibert with BASF says white mold cost farmers more than $280 million in yield losses in 2024 and can be devastating without timely management.

“It’s definitely a very aggressive disease. Certainly a disease we all want to keep our minds on in soybean growing areas, and certainly it tends to affect the soybean crop from canopy closure on. You know once you’ve had a history of white mold in that field, whether it’s from growing soybeans or crops like dry edible beans, canola, sunflowers, etc you know it usually persists as a problem in future years.”

Deibert says the management window for white mold is much smaller than many farmers realize, lasting just two to three weeks.

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Knoxville native Neal Burnette-Irwin is a graduate from MTSU where he majored in Journalism and Entertainment Studies. He works as a digital content producer with RFD News and is represented by multiple talent agencies in Nashville and Chicago.


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