Even though it’s harvest season, it’s not too soon for soybean producers to start thinking about next year’s crops and protecting them from the damaging effects of soybean cyst nematode (SCN).
“I think SCN is continually going to be one of those key challenges that growers are facing, which steals over $1.5 billion of revenue in yield,” according to Jeremiah Mullock, Product Manager for Seed Treatment with BASF.
October is SCN Action Month, since now is the best time to conduct your soil sampling to test for this damaging pest. Mullock says that testing your soils is one of the keys to managing SCN.
“In our BASF sampling the last few years, we’ve had over 6,000-plus samples and we’ve detected SCN in over 80 percent of those fields, so really this problem is widespread and abundant,” he says. “But often that yield loss is invisible, so I think this is a great time to proactively build a plan for the 2026 season.”
He says another key to tackling SCN is using a seed treatment that’s available from BASF called ILEVO®, which also provides protection against sudden death syndrome (SDS).
“Our average yield benefits that we see with ILEVO® in a nematode only environment is between two-to-four bushel yield gains. Whenever you actually detect and have above-ground symptomology of SDS, we’re upwards of four-to-ten bushel yield gains,” says Mullock.
Even though the current farm economy has been a rough one for soybean growers, Mullock adds that using ILEVO® to protect yields from SCN and SDS gives you more return on your investment.
“When you think of challenging economic times, one way to offset lower commodity prices is to produce more bushels. ILEVO® is a great solution to demonstrate that positive return on investment for increasing revenue through increased production,” he says.
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