Soybean Yield Loss Estimates Due to Diseases in the United States and Ontario, Canada, from 2015 to 2019

Soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) yield losses as a result of plant diseases were estimated by university and government plant pathologists in 29 soybean producing states in the United States and in Ontario, Canada, from 2015 through 2019. In general, the estimated losses that resulted from each of 28 plant diseases or pathogens varied by state or province as well as year. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines Ichinohe) caused more than twice as much loss as any other disease during the survey period. Seedling diseases (caused by various pathogens), Sclerotinia stem rot (white mold) (caused by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum [Lib.] de Bary), and sudden death syndrome (caused by Fusarium virguliforme O’Donnell & T. Aoki) caused the next greatest yield losses, in descending order. Following SCN, the most damaging diseases in the northern United States and Ontario differed from those in the southern United States. The estimated mean economic loss from all soybean diseases, averaged across the United States and Ontario, Canada was US$45 per acre (US$111 per hectare). The outcome from the current survey will provide pertinent information regarding the important soybean diseases and their overall severity in the soybean crop and help guide future research and Extension efforts on managing soybean diseases.