The Kansas Soybean Association’s 2010 Soybean Expo was held recently in Topeka, Kan., and kicked off with a look into the future for soybean producers.

Leading off the program was Bill Schapaugh, Kansas State University soybean breeder.

Although Schapaugh’s discussion on soybean cyst nematode (SCN) may not have been a new topic, the research being done at K-State continues to be updated.

According to him, one current SCN study looks at the diversity of the disease in different counties in Kansas.

“After taking over 60 soil samples in Kansas, SCN was detected in 78 percent of them,” Schapaugh explained. “The majority of these SCN populations are big enough to cause an economic problem for the producer.”

In order for growers to combat SCN, Schapaugh recommended they continue to rotate soybeans with non-host crops, plant SCN resistant varieties and rotate resistant varieties.

“The key is not using the same crop or varieties twice in a row,” he said.

Schapaugh urged growers at the Expo to familiarize themselves with different soybean varieties listed in the 2009 Kansas Crop Performance Tests.

“There are some big differences in varieties,” he said. “We have even seen some varieties that limit the reproduction of SCN.”

Staying with the trend of continued K-State soybean research, Larry Buschman, Kansas State University entomologist, discussed research being done on the Dectes stem borer.

The Dectes stem borer is not a new insect it is also referred to as the soybean stem borer, sunflower stem borer and sunflower stem girdler, according to Buschman.

“The Dectes stem borer has made a shift from wild hosts to soybeans and sunflowers in Kansas,” he explained.

He continued that much of the damage done from this insect over the last several years has been spread throughout the western two-thirds of Kansas.

“One region of the state where we have not seen the presence of Dectes is in eastern Kansas,” Buschman said. “However, where they are present they can be devastating.”

The main problem that Buschman has seen in his research is that it is hard to use insecticides on the stem borer since their presence is very extended.