Source: USDA Soybean Rust Information website

Scouting for soybean rust continues on kudzu patches from Florida northward through Georgia and Alabama, and westward to Texas.

Dade county in southern Florida is the newest county to have been confirmed positive for soybean rust. The find occured on a kudzu patch that was positive in 2005. Please consult state commentary for more details.

The Confirmed reports of kudzu in 2006 include Alabama with 1, Georgia with 2, and Florida with 11 counties.

There has been some dieback to very little dieback of kudzu in rural locations in central and southern Florida. In northern Florida and in a few locations in Alabama and Georgia, where the kudzu has been protected from cold winter temperatures, there is some green tissue. Most kudzu patches scouted north of central Florida have been defoliated; and some are just beginning to leaf out.

The locations where soybean rust infected kudzu patches have been found north of central Florida have been in:

1) urban areas ("heat islands") in positions where the plants have been protected from the cold winter night sky, and

2) at a single location where a spot light has provided artificial light and heat to create favorable growing conditions for the kudzu.

It is unknown whether soybean rust is distributed more widely in the southern U.S. in early February 2006 than it was one year ago.

There has been more extensive scouting this winter; all the Florida kudzu locations that were positive for soybean rust in 2005 have been scouted in January/February 2006 as well as many of the kudzu sites where no soybean rust was found last year.

Also, winter in Florida is not over for at least another month. The last frost-free date for parts of northern Florida is March 15th.