DISEASES OF SOYBEAN - WHITE MOLD

White mold (officially known as Sclerotinia stem rot) is a potentially devastating disease caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The fungus overwinters as small, hard, black resting structures called sclerotia (see arrows). Sclerotia can be introduced into a soybean field with seed soybeans that have been produced in fields with severe white mold problems, or may already be present in a field due to previous white mold epidemics. Sclerotinia sclerotiorum has a wide host range and can infect other important crops such as snap beans, as well as a variety of weed species.