Applying fungicide on corn? Do it with care

Fungal blights can decimate corn yields. Even so, fungicide is only as helpful as how it is used.

And undertaking it late in the time raises its very own concerns since you never want to hurt your corn.

“You ponder if you’re producing injury going in. Do you get a produce bump?” said Tom Sutter of LandPro Tools, speaking to a group of growers at the New York Corn and Soybean Growers Summer season Crop Tour at Catalpa Farms in Canandaigua.

Standing in front of a backdrop of towering corn, Sutter explained that farmers could ponder if it is even worthwhile to use a fungicide when fungal blight is at a low amount.

A farmer may also marvel if fungal disorders would even materialize devoid of spraying.

Chris Flansburg, also of LandPro, extra, “I’m not saying we don’t have foliar sickness. In the Midwest, they’re corn on corn, and the inoculant is often there.”

Even though a crop rotation of corn and soybeans is common with some farmers, in particular for its ability to strengthen soil wellbeing, it also usually means that residue from previous fungal application is diminished.

When a cool, moist spring generates a favorable setting for corn ailments to establish, drought disorders, as lots of are dealing with now, can also contribute to plant susceptibility to illness as the plant’s absence of nutrients stresses it.

“That provides the plant’s self-protection system down,” Flansburg reported. 

Good timing and protection

Productive application of fungicide is all about timing and protection. The finest time to utilize is as soon as tassels appear, but in advance of the silk turns brown.

“Once you have brown silk, it might be a minimal late,” Flansburg mentioned.

Good protection is also crucial when preventing blight. Overhead sprayers established at the correct peak can aid guarantee protection is perfect with out detrimental the stalks. Some sprayers can go as large as 78 inches.

“We never want to lead to the least bit of destruction,” Sutter explained.

Flansburg extra that farmers really should also pay out interest to droplet size and placement though spraying. The fungicide’s label suggests what to do.

“Time of working day is significant,” he added. “That 8 a.m. window takes edge of dew to get spray a minimal farther. Devices can fluctuate the amount throughout the field. You can load the prescription and apply where you will get rewards.”

GPS-managed units can support farmers pinpoint specifically where their corn involves more spray and steer clear of making use of it where by it will not present as considerably advantage, these as places with reduce plant density.

Flansburg also encouraged attendees to pick the right carrier and nozzle based mostly on the label.

“Some facts claims to use at 10 mph at 11 toes,” he said. “How droplets enter is a little additional aggressive. Normal spraying pace is 12 to 14 mph. If you are viewing insect strain, get out there.”