Soyrust found in two more Georgia counties - USDA

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The yield-cutting soybean rust fungus was found in two more counties in southwestern Georgia, boosting the total in the United States in 2007 to 20 counties, the Agriculture Department said on Wednesday.

The fungus was detected in Miller and Thomas counties, but the sites have since been killed due to a recent cold snap, according to Layla Sconyers, a plant pathologist at the University of Georgia.

"Rust is still confirmed, but no longer found, in Miller and Thomas Counties," Sconyers said on USDA's rust-monitoring Web site. "Infected leaves at these two sites have been knocked out by cold temperatures.

The United States this year has found soybean rust in 20 counties in three states -- eight in Florida, seven in Georgia and five in Alabama.

Last year soybean rust, which can slash yields by up to 80 percent in untreated fields, was found in 274 counties in 15 states -- twice the number from 2005.