Over the past month OMAFRA and AAFC conducted tests on sample soybean leaves that confirmed the disease has spread through wind-borne spores into Ontario from the U.S. . Depending on infection timing soybean rust can cause detrimental yield loss. Fortunately, soybean plants in Ontario have either been harvested or are too mature for the disease to have an effect on the 2007 crop.

 “This is the first time soybean rust has infected Canadian soybeans, however, it is too late in the growing year for the disease to affect soybean yields,” says Albert Tenuta, Field Crop Plant Pathologist with OMAFRA. “Researcher’s can’t predict how the disease will act in Canada’s climate, but we do not expect this disease to over winter in Ontario .”

 Soybean rust like other rust pathogens requires a living host to survive, reproduce and over-winter. It is unlikely that a winter host exists in Ontario or the northern U.S. since potential hosts lack green tissue during the winter months. “With the current detection of rust in Ontario and those in northern Iowa, we may be seeing a pattern establishing which would see more frequent movement of Asian soybean rust into the northern soybean production areas of North America in the future,” says Tenuta. The risk of an outbreak during the next growing season will depend on wind patterns and the spread of airborne rust spores into the province.

 “We knew soybean rust would eventually be introduced to Canada , and that it was only a matter of time,” says Dale Petrie, General Manager of Ontario Soybean Growers. “We are fortunate that soybean rust did not infect the crop until the fall, as a result it is unlikely that there was any impact on the 2007 crop.”

 The disease, common throughout Asia and South America, was discovered in fall 2004 in the U.S. The fungus is not harmful to humans or animals, but it can have a crippling effect on soybean plants and potentially yields. Symptoms include small lesions on the lower leaves of the infected plant that increase in size and change from grey to tan or reddish brown on the undersides of the leaves. Soybean rust can be managed with early detection and the use of fungicides.  Soybean rust is not a regulated pest in Canada or the United States .

 The Ontario Soybean Rust Coalition is a group of key industry players - including government, growers, researchers, and chemical companies - committed to monitoring and minimizing the effects of soybean rust in Ontario .

 For more information about Asian Soybean Rust resources available visit www.soybean.on.ca/rust

 Contact:

Dale Petrie, Ontario Soybean Growers, 519-767-0212

Albert Tenuta, Field Crop Plant Pathologist, OMAFRA, 519-674-1617 or albert.tenuta@ontario.ca

For media assistance contact Jeanine Moyer, Ontario Soybean Growers, 519-767-2773

  

Soybean Rust Confirmed in Ontario – Backgrounder   (November 16, 2007)

 The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA in Ridgetown) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Ottawa in cooperation with the Ontario Soybean Growers (OSG) today confirmed that Asian Soybean Rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi), has been found on samples submitted for testing.  Soybean rust has the potential to cause large crop and economic losses to soybean growers and associated industries. 

 The stage at which the soybean plant is infected with Asian soybean rust determines the potential yield loss from the disease.  Fortunately the disease did not infect Ontario soybeans until very late in the growing season.  The impact of soybean rust on the 2007 soybean crop will be minimal since most soybeans have been harvested or have reached physiological maturity for the disease to have an effect on 2007 yields.

 The confirmed rust leaves came from soybean plants collected in Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada in October, 2007.

 The suspect leaf (pustule) was positive using a Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) test for soybean rust conducted by AAFC Research Scientist Dr. Sarah Hambleton in Ottawa . DNA sequencing also confirmed the original soybean rust detection.

 Of the two fungal species that cause soybean rust (Phakopsora pachyrhizi, also known as the Asian species and Phakopsora meibomiae, the New World species) it is the Asian species that is the most damaging and which was detected in Ontario . The disease is common throughout Asia and South America but did not occur in North America until November 2004 when it was detected in the southern United States ( Louisiana ).  Soybean rust is not a regulated pest in Canada or the United States.

 The first detection for Canada is a direct result of the Ontario Soybean Growers supported activities.  The OSG has supported Ontario’s participation in the most comprehensive disease monitoring (sentinel plot) and forecasting program used in North American which is coordinated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United Soybean Board (USB) and the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP).  The information collected from this North American “early warning system” is posted on the Ontario Soybean Growers website (www.soybean.on.ca) and the USDA Pest Information Platform for Extension and Education (PIPE) website (www.sbrusa.net).

 Funding for many of the Ontario soybean rust projects was provided in part through the Canada-Ontario Research and Development (CORD) Program administered by the Agricultural Adaptation Council as well as the AAFC Pest Management Centre, the Ontario Soybean Growers and the Ontario Soybean Rust Coalition (through AAFC /ACC CanAdvance Program).