Growers are facing increasing pressure from diseases like Gray Leaf Spot, Tar Spot, and even Southern Rust has made its way to northern Indiana. Some voices in the industry are recommending fungicide rate increases, claiming it will potentially eliminate the need for a second pass.
Tyler Harp, technical product lead for Syngenta, says a higher rate of a fungicide will not replace a second application.
“You may get some extended residual activity with a little bit of a higher rate, but it’s not going to be something that’s going to give you as much of a return as a second application would under these scenarios of higher disease pressure. The data just doesn’t support that. So, when you make a fungicide application, we hope that you’re going to get good performance from that fungicide application, and if disease pressure continues throughout the season, a little bit later on, you might need a second application to ensure that you’re protecting as much yield as possible.”
Stress mitigation will be especially important for your crops if the weather turns dry in August.
“The Bermuda High is positioned in a place where it’s just allowing that moisture to come in through the Gulf, bringing that precipitation. That’s why we saw some flooding in Texas and so forth, and it’s bringing that precipitation up through Iowa into the Corn Belt. Now, if the Bermuda High moves – it is expected to do so later this summer – moves further out to the Atlantic, it will kind of shut some of that off, and it could cause some drier conditions. And one of the things that’s nice about a really good plant health fungicide is that you’re not only preserving yield in the presence of biotic stress, which is caused by diseases, but also abiotic stress, which is caused by things like drought or even heat.”
Harp provides his fungicide recommendations.
“Miravis Neo, for corn and soybeans, is the fungicide that gives you these very important plant health benefits, as well as potent, long-lasting disease control. Miravis Neo contains a broad-spectrum fungicide. It has diseases like Fusarium ear rot or Gibberella ear rot that are labeled, and so that’s important.”
Harp reminds you to always read and follow label directions.
Source: NAFB News Service
