When the market price of corn slumped in July, many growers decided not to use fungicides, or used lower cost products. The old saying “you get what you paid for” certainly applies this year, and most years.

This season, many corn plants started senescence too early – beginning in mid-to-late August. Considering the corn plant is a factory running 24/7 with the ultimate goal of harvesting sunlight, and using water and nutrients from the soil to produce sugars to fill the kernels, keeping the plant factory green and healthy is critical to maximize yield.

Diseases also played a big factor. Although northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) wasn’t as detrimental compared to last season, the plentiful rain did allow multiple disease problems to occur including rust, grey leaf spot and anthracnose. Without the protection of fungicides, this left the corn plants vulnerable to diseases.

Trivapro® fungicide is the latest fungicide developed by Syngenta that provides the longest activity against the major diseases listed above. As the photo below taken just this week shows, the Trivapro-treated area of the field had superior disease protection, resulting in significantly healthier green leaf tissue and a longer grain fill window than the competitive treatment. Preserving the grain fill window will help grow more corn.

Headline AMP @ VT (far left) vs. untreated (center) vs. Trivapro @VT (far right)

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All photos are either the property of Syngenta or are used with permission.