Pressure continues to build, as Iowa farmers look to harvest this year’s crop.
A technical agronomist speaks to addressing late season pressures.
Jim McDermott, technical agronomist with Dekalb/Asgrow, sheds light on diseases found in northwest Iowa corn fields. McDermott points out the prevailing diseases: Anthracnose stalk rot, fusarium crown rot and anthracnose top dieback. He encourages producers to give priority to disease-ridden fields come harvest.
“It’s a good time to prioritize fields, especially fields that were short on nitrogen, did not get a fungicide, (were) planted into wet conditions or experienced wetter than normal conditions throughout the summer. Those are the ones where potential for stalk rot is high,” McDermott said.
Gaining control of diseases requires a considerable amount of time and effort. McDermott speaks to efforts, which will help producers reduce disease pressure on their operations.
“Of course, identifying where these disease pressures are. A lot of diseases carry over from year-to-year,” McDermott said. “If we’re corn-on-corn, we’ll need to be aware of those fields that showed disease this year.”
McDermott also recommends use of management products, such as fungicides.
“Delaro does a good job of not only helping to suppress disease, but helping with the overall standability of corn. That’s something that needs to be looked at in future years, as far as managing the standability of the corn crop,” McDermott said.
Other items to take into consideration when addressing disease pressure on your farm include proper drainage and a balanced fertility program.
