The US Agriculture Department said Tuesday the movement of soyabean rust in the United States has been slowed because the weather has provided few chances for the fungus to spread. The USDA had said that Tropical Storm Arlene blew "significant" amounts of spores into several states in the south-eastern US earlier this month. So far, Arlene remains one of the few major storms that could have spread spores in the United States.
"While the limited number of source sites in this first full season is one possible reason for the lack of inoculum and the minimum spread of soyabean rust infections, vigilance is still the best policy," the report said.
The highly contagious soyabean rust was confirmed in April in Seminole County, Georgia, near the border of Florida, which also has reported five counties with the fungus.
The area most susceptible to contracting soyabean rust due to Arlene stretches from southern South Carolina through central Georgia and Alabama to south-eastern Mississippi.