The agronomy team is always seeking out ways to help the farmers in our counties. One way they are doing that is through on-farm trials. Thanks to a grant from the South Carolina Soybean Board, agronomy agents Heather Benjamin, Jonathan Croft, William Hardee, and Hannah Mikell have been able to work with growers to do root-knot nematode variety test plots in four South Carolina counties.
Nematodes are microscopic worms that feed on the roots, which in turn can cause reduced growth, nutrient deficiencies, increase the chance of diseases, and much more. In soybeans, it can cause a ten to fifteen percent yield loss, which is one reason why it is important to sample your fields. For a detailed article on sampling, Dr. John Mueller, along with three others, are in the process of writing an article on “Maximizing Results From Your Nematode Sampling Program.”
For this trial, the team took samples mid-May, had the farmers plant four different soybean varieties, with three replications mid-June, and then resampled in late July. Harvest will begin soon, and they hope to find the number of root-knot nematodes decreased when the final samples are taken. This will allow them to give better information to the farmers in the future on those specific soybean varieties.
Submitted by: Heather Benjamin, Clemson Cooperative Extention Agronomy Agent
