Pulse Diseases & Sugarbeet Diseases

Dr. Jessica Rupp, MSU Plant Pathologist

Dr. Jessica Rupp, MSU Plant Pathologist, will be giving two talks on Thursday afternoon. The first will be about pulse diseases. Montana is presently the number one producer of pulses in the United States. Her focus will be on lentil, dry pea, chick pea, and dry bean crops as well as fungal diseases. She will discuss options to treat pulse crops, testing seed, and planting fungicide seed treatments for a healthy start for crops. She is also an expert on the topic of bacterial and viral diseases and will be looking for resistance. "The more pulse acres we grow, we set ourselves up to get the diseases our neighbors in North Dakota and Canada have." She also says that times are changing and shifts in technology apply. She will be informing farmers where to send samples for diagnosis if they suspect pulse diseases. Dr. Rupp has a team working in the Regional Pulse Crop Diagnostic Lab at MSU, Bozeman and Dr. Frankie Crutcher is leading research in Sidney at the Eastern Agricultural Research Center.

sugar beet diseases are also in Dr. Rupp's realm of expertise. Cercostoral leaf spots are lesions that cause the sugar beet to use all of its energy to counteract the disease which affects the quality of the sugar. Rhizoctonia is crown and root rot that affects the root itself. She recommends "staying on top of this infection," and will talk about poor storage quality that causes the beets to breathe hot air and can cause problems throughout the pile. Farmers will be able to see pictures to be able to scout their fields, knowing what they are looking for. They will be able to text Dr. Rupp a photo or send a sample to MSU or the Eastern Agriculture Center for diagnosis.