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Look for signs of crop disease during harvest

Farmers are encouraged to look for signs of disease pressure while harvesting corn this fall.

Gail Stratman with FMC says certain hybrids might show more susceptibility to pathogens that appeared in 2020.

“Those can have impacts on a crop’s standability, and its ability to retain that ear on the stalk through this critical fall harvest season as it dries down.”

He tells Brownfield earlier scouting probably revealed which fields need to be harvested first.

“As you are looking at that crop in late July and through August and early September, what were your disease levels like (and) did your hybrids handle it okay? Or do we have some concerns there? And then prioritize harvest around that.”

Stratman says a large portion of the Midwest saw greater infestations of foliar diseases in corn, especially southern rust.