A red crown fungus, red crown rot, is infecting the roots of soybean crops in at least nine counties in Missouri.

Mandy Bish, an MU Extension specialist in field crop pathology, said she suspects the fungus is in Boone County's crops, but it has yet to be confirmed.

This comes after a dry August left soybean producers with smaller crops, Bish said.

She said last year yielded a 54% crop loss, and similar losses are expected this year.

“It’s one of those things that we’re kind of on the front edge of, and over time it’s going to become more and more of a problem,” Bish said. “These soil diseases are really hard to manage.”

Red crown rot cannot be cured once it sets into the crop.

Bish said that as researchers went in to identify the red crown fungus, they found another fungus which h

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