The Iowa State University (ISU) Organic Ag Program has been asked to respond to the discovery of Asian soybean rust in the United States and how it relates to organic growers. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the discovery of rust in Louisiana on November 10, 2004, and in the following weeks, the disease was found in eight additional states in the southern United States (see Figure 1). Iowa has approximately 60,000 acres of organic soybeans and all soybean growers are concerned about the prospect of rust appearing in Iowa in 2005
