Plentiful moisture this growing season is triggering disease pressure in soybeans, potentially threatening some of the yield gains usually associated with August rainfall, farmers and agronomists said last week.

Pockets of sudden death syndrome (SDS) are showing up across the state, especially where fields were saturated at planting.

"Going back to the heavy moisture we had in June, coupled with the fact that a lot of soybeans probably weren’t planted in ideal conditions, those conditions were ideal for the fungus ...