The USDA is committed to providing stakeholders with effective decision support for managing soybean rust in soybean fields during the 2005 growing season and beyond. As part of this effort, USDA-APHIS is developing a strategic Soybean Rust Incursion Plan for the 2005 season. This paper will focus on two of the basic components of this plan: 1) operational surveillance and monitoring network to provide timely information on the extent and severity of soybean rust epidemics in the U.S. and Caribbean basin, and 2) predictive modeling of aerial transport of P. pachyrhizi spores from active source regions to North America soybean growing areas.