News

Tar spot getting worse in Minnesota

Tar spot continues to spread throughout Midwestern corn fields.

Tim Dahl is an agronomic service rep covering southern Minnesota for Syngenta and says the foliar disease really came on later in the summer.

“This is the third year we’ve been dealing with it, and it progressively seems to have gotten worse.”

University of Minnesota Extension crops educator Dave Nicolai tells Brownfield the proliferation of tar spot seems to be very dependent on southerly winds and moisture.

He is confident plant breeders are making progress as farmers struggle to manage it.

“In certain varieties, and probably the newer ones and (newer) genetics as we go forward. That being said, there’s a lot of effective fungicides from that standpoint, but timing is so critical on those.”

Dahl agrees and says a strong fungicide program can work well if applied early enough.

Tim Dahl interview:

Dave Nicolai interview: