Southern rust

You can’t control the weather, but you can minimize its impact on your corn fields. As you begin planning for 2020, be sure to consider the possibility of high levels of inoculum overwintering. To ensure diseases don’t hamper corn yield, here are the most common ones to keep an eye out for next season:

• Gray leaf spot. Because it is easily confused with other foliar diseases, gray leaf spot can be difficult to identify in its early stages. Infection begins with small spots surrounded by yellow halos that mature into long, brown or gray rectangular lesions. Over time, the lesions run parallel to the leaf veins and eventually spread across the entire leaf, prohibiting photosynthesis.
• Northern corn leaf blight. One of the most notable symptoms of Northern corn leaf blight is the presence of long, elliptical leaf lesions. Lesions typically appear gray to green at first and later develop a gray cast. According to research from the University of Tennessee, Northern corn leaf blight is most damaging in temperatures between 64 – 80° F during prolonged periods of moisture.
• Common and Southern rust. Identifiable by the presence of reddish-brown pustules that burst and leave behind powdery spores, rust can result in varying levels of yield loss during grain fill. While common rust is typically not yield-limiting, Southern rust can result in severe yield loss if left untreated.
• Anthracnose stalk rot. Symptoms typically appear as shiny, black blotches located on the lower nodes of the stalk.

If you’ve seen these symptoms in your field in 2019, or have a history of high disease pressure, it is important to plan early to protect your corn yield next season.

• Know the signs. Knowing the symptoms of diseases that are likely to make an appearance can help you proactively prevent diseases capable of impacting your ROI.
• Apply a flexible fungicide. To protect corn yield, use a fungicide with preventive and curative control in 2020. With superior residual control, Trivapro® fungicide works harder and lasts longer to shut down disease-causing pathogens and prevent future infections. Trivapro also provides plant-health benefits to help keep corn strong until harvest.

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