Tar spot has been confirmed in all three states in the region this year. South Dakota has a whopping 41 counties that have dealt with tar spot this year. “You might not even have a need to apply fungicide, but you may also not have the option to apply fungicide,” saids Madalyn Shires, plant pathology specialist, South Dakota State University Extension. Tar spot can cause detrimental yield losses when infections become severe. “We are trying to keep an eye on it because we don’t want it to become established and start causing those types of yield losses.”
