Sporecaster, The Soybean White Mold Forecaster

The purpose of Sporecaster is to assist farmers in making management decisions for white mold in soybean. The best time to manage white mold is during flowering (R1 and R2 growth stages) when apothecia (small, mushroom-like structures) are present on the soil surface. Apothecia release spores which infect senescing soybean flowers, leading to the development of white mold. University research has indicated that the appearance of apothecia can be predicted using several variables including weather and amount of soybean row closure in a field. Based on this research, models have been developed to forecast the risk of apothecia being present in a soybean field. Farmers can easily input site-specific information about their soybean field into this app, which combines this information with the research-based models to predict the best timing for white mold treatment.