Pioneer agronomists say look for foliar diseases

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Pioneer Hi-Bred experts are suggesting scouting fields and then evaluating whether a foliar fungicide application offers benefits because of the wet, humid weather conditions causing risk of foliar disease in fields on top of extra disease inoculums from wet and cool conditions in 2008 and 2009. The conditions in those growing seasons allowed many disease inoculums to survive on field residue - corn-on-corn fields especially - and caused disease pressure to increase this growing season. Pioneer Technical Services Manager Brent Wilson says disease pressure varies from field to field - but foliar diseases are conducive to wet growing conditions.

Wilson says the window to see the greatest return from a fungicide application is rapidly closing as the corn crop and disease cycle progresses - and fields with high disease pressure could still see a return on a fungicide investment. He says hybrids with high tolerance will likely withstand any yield impact to foliar diseases. Fungicides potentially offer positive outcomes - but deciding to apply fungicides should be something growers assess on a field-by-field basis - according to Wilson. It’s imperative to apply fungicide at the right time - and the right time is during tasseling when spraying.

Wilson says corn planted in mid-April is near the end of the application window - but it’s a good time to evaluate and take note of fields impacted by foliar diseases for the crop in the ground and assessing hybrid performance for next year’s seed purchase decisions. For more information on foliar fungicide applications or hybrid tolerance ratings - contact your local agronomist or sales professional.