By Alabama Public Radio
Mobile, AL – Asian soybean rust has spread over much of the South, infecting soybeans in Alabama and other states. And officials say the fungus is expected to survive the winter and could pose an even bigger threat during the next growing season. Soybean rust causes premature leaf loss, leading to fewer bean pods, fewer seeds per pod and early maturity. And all of that adds up to lost crop yield. The fungus arrived in the region from South America late in 2004, but scientists are still uncertain how it travels. They say part of the reason the fungus has remained confined to the South is because it survived only in Florida last Winter.