News Release

WEST LAFAYETTE — Red crown rot, a disease that affects soybeans and other legumes, has spread to Indiana fields.

Symptoms of the disease resemble those of other diseases, such as sudden death syndrome or brown stem rot. Like those diseases, red crown rot can cause yellow speckling on leaves and interveinal necrosis and chlorosis, where the veins remain green and the tissue between veins yellows or browns.

Red crown rot differs from sudden death syndrome because the leaves may stay attached instead of dropping. As the name implies, the disease also causes the crown, or area of stem near the soil line, to turn red. Fungal structures may appear on the red tissue, but they do not always appear.

The disease is soilborne, meaning it can be transmitted through soil. Crop rotation of nonlegumes, like corn, may be useful for reducing the initial inoculation or survival, of the disease, but a multifaceted management program will be necessary for future farming of soybeans.

“There’s nothing farmers can do now to manage the disease this season,” said Darcy Telenko, Purdue associate professor of botany and plant pathology. “What’s important now is to understand if they have the disease in their field so that they can make disease management decisions in the future.”

Researchers first detected red crown rot in Indiana in 2022. Counties with a confirmed presence of the disease as of Aug. 23, 2024, include Adams, Bartholomew, Rush, Decatur and Spencer.

The disease has been common in southern states for decades, but its appearance in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and other Midwest states is new.

“We need farmers’ help to track the disease across the state,” Telenko said. “Collecting samples helps us do that.”

Farmers can submit suspected red crown rot samples of soybeans to the Purdue Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory at no charge.

Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory
Purdue University
915 Mitch Daniels Blvd., LSPS 116
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054

Farmers should ship samples early in the week with proper labeling. Each sample label should include the collection date, soybean variety, field zip code or county, and previous crop at that location.

If you have questions, contact Darcy Telenko at [email protected] or (764) 496-5168, or PPDL at [email protected] or (765) 494-7071.