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Stalk rot concerns heading into #harvest18

An agronomist is concerned about stalk rot in wet areas of the Corn Belt.

Roger Plooster, who covers southwest Minnesota for Golden Harvest seed company, says there will be standability issues this fall.

“If you think about it, we’ve been wet throughout most of southwest Minnesota since Day 1, which inhibited root growth and really added to the severity of the crown rots and those types of things that are really showing up now.”

Plooster tells Brownfield he’s telling any farmer who will listen they need to prioritize fields and plan on an early harvest.

“I think many growers were hoping they could let that corn stand out in the field and not have to spend money on drying, but I think that would be a real mistake.”

Calling himself a big believer in full rate applications of fungicide over the top of corn, Plooster says it provides a good yield return and improves the harvestability of corn.