The Midwest faced unique corn disease issues, including Southern Rust and Tar Spot. FMC Regional Technical Manager Gail Stratman said it was a perfect storm with very wet conditions last winter in the southern United States. “Then you had a lot of south winds in late May through July to bring that inoculum north,” said Stratman. “And think about what happened in the Midwest this summer. We had really warm nights from late June/early July on through August, and then we had a lot of moisture during that time. I don’t know if I’ve seen a period of time where we had long stretches of high humidity like we did this year. That’s the perfect conditions, absolutely perfect conditions for southern rust.” The inoculum was found as far north as North Dakota near the Canadian border. Stratman said the fungicide decision should be based on what is happening south of you. Listen to the full interview at this link.
