The window for protecting your corn crop from disease STARTS NOW! Early planted fields are showing tassels and silks in some areas now; heat and moisture are making our fields progress rapidly.
Wet, humid weather generally means lots of potential for fungal diseases to appear in the crop canopy that can lead to loss of crop yield and quality. Conditions now are similar to those that showed up during pollination in 2018, when a large portion of Ontario had issues with diseases, especially ear rots that lead to an increase in DON levels and huge issues with crop marketability.
In fields with high pressure from Western Bean Cutworm, damage on the cob leads to a drastic increase in disease in most cases. Even if numbers of WBC aren’t at threshold, may still make sense to apply a fungicide on the field.
LEARN WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FUNGICIDES AND CORN!
Fungicides are broken down into 2 main categories: EAR ROT SUPPRESSION AND LEAF DISEASE CONTROL.
Ear Rot Suppression:
- Protect against Fusarium and Gibberella ear rots causing DON, which leads to issues with quality, especially for feeding livestock
- Caramba, Miravis Neo, Proline are registered products
Leaf Disease Control:
- Protect against yield robbing diseases like Tar Spot, Northern Corn Leaf Blight, etc.
- Acapela, Delaro Complete, Headline AMP, Miravis Neo, Priaxor
Some corn crops can have protection from both – especially for ear rot suppression. Application timing is the most critical factor. Some have protection from both:
- Miravis Neo, Caramba/Headline AMP tank mix
DID YOU KNOW?
- The applications must be made when silks are fresh and green during pollination period (R1 stage)
- Timing for leaf disease control is generally best around tasselling to late pollination
- Must be applied preventatively
Opportunity to top up with any nutrients showing deficiency at the same time!