News

Reports of several late season crop diseases in southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri

An agronomist in southwest Iowa is seeing several late season crop diseases in his state and beyond.

John Long with Brevant Seeds says the main threat in corn is tar spot.

“We’ve seen tar spot around the area throughout the summer (and) I believe as we get into northwest Missouri, that’s one of the hot spots and it’s really severe. But it’s in the top of everyone’s mind thinking about tar spot.”

He tells Brownfield northern corn leaf blight is setting in, and there are concerns drought stress followed by heavy rains could result in anthracnose stalk rot.

For soybeans, Long says white mold is popping up in southern areas south of Interstate 80.

“Where we’ve never really seen white mold before. Again, a very wet July, very humid, overcast conditions (were a factor). And we’re seeing a fair amount of Sudden Death Syndrome pop up across the area.”

He says SDS is normally brought on by early planting in cool, wet soils.

Long made these comments to Brownfield during an upcoming Managing for Profit, a content partnership with Brevant Seeds.