The 2004 soybean virus survey found a surprising lack of viruses. The survey was conducted from July 19 to August 24, targeting fields in the R2-R4 stage of growth. At each field, the topmost fully expanded trifoliate was collected from 10 plants at four sites in the field. Aphid counts were conducted, an estimate of bean leaf beetle defoliation was made, and apparent virus symptoms were noted. Samples were kept on ice until frozen at -80° deg. C. Leaves were ground and assayed for virus presence using DASELISA (reagents from Agdia, Elkhart, Indiana). Of the 293 fields sampled, three had detectable alfalfa mosaic virus, while five had soybean dwarf virus. No cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) was detected in any field sampled. No bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) was detected either, despite a May-June survey of the bean leaf beetle that indicated the presence of BPMV in beetles in six counties in southern Wisconsin.