Soybean rust was found in another Florida county and was expected to spread throughout the state and other parts of the South as growers continue to feel the impact from Hurricane Katrina, the US Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.
The disease, which can slash soyabean yields by up to 80 percent, was confirmed in a sentinel plot in Jackson County. That means 21 counties in Florida have reported soyarust this growing season, including many of the counties in the state's panhandle.
"The wind and rain will provide the moisture needed for germination and infection, and soyabean rust may also increase more rapidly with the cooler temperatures forecast for the next few days," USDA said in a report posted on its soyabean rust-monitoring Web site.
"By the middle of September we should begin to dry down and, along with a maturing crop, soyabean rust pressure will not be as severe," according to the report.
Even if soyabean rust were found in the United States during the next few weeks, it was unlikely to have a major impact on crops because the fungus is not very concentrated and much of the crop is already nearing maturity.
As Katrina moved through the United States, USDA said, the powerful storm deposited spores from the Southeast into Louisiana, Arkansas, south-eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, southern Ontario, western New York and most of the Mid-Atlantic states. These spores can turn into full-fledged soyabean rust Since the disease was first discovered in the continental US last November, the yield-cutting has remained in the southern part of the country.
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