Dealing with Crop Diseases

Wet Sping May Bring Crop Disease 05/01/2009by Gary Truitt
There have been more days of rain than days of sun this spring in Indiana, and that is likely to bring on more crop diseases this year. Randy Myers, with Bayer Crop Science says a combination of factors will increase the likelihood of disease in corn and soybeans, “A wet sping will provide the chance for diseases to develop even though they may not show up until later in the year.” Another factor that will contribute to the increased likeliood of diseasses is the delay in planting, “Later p lanting will mean crops may be more vulnerable when the disease outbreak comes.” The use of fungicides by midwest growers is a relativly new occurrence, but Myers told HAT growers are getting better at managing these products, “The timing of the application and the rate used to be sort of hit and miss but now we hve a lot more experience.” He said application of products such as Stratego®, should be planned for and just a reaction when disease hits. He recomends application on corn around the brown silk stage and around R3 to R4 for soybeans. Stratego® fungicide offers broad-spectrum disease control under a wide range of environmental conditions in corn, soybeans, wheat, and other crops. With its unique plant surface retention and redistribution