With a cold, wet start to the planting season, conditions will likely be ideal for pythium. Justin Schneider, agronomist for LG Seeds in Michigan, says that’s the main disease he faces when he gets calls about replanting. Patience will go a long way this season.
“Farmers planting in their well-drained soils, which they normally do, but waiting for those soil temperatures to be right,” he says. “We need to push at least as close as we can to that 50-degree envelope and looking at a good three- to five-day forecast. The longer the seed sits in the ground, the bigger issues we can have, especially with replant or stand losses.”
Schneider says after farmers plant in those ideal conditions, scouting might get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season. In order prevent disease like pythium, it will be imperative.
“You would be shocked at how many service calls I go on where the grower wasn’t out scouting until he side dressed the corn or put his post-herbicide application on,” he says. “I always tell guys to start scouting 10 to 14 days after planting, and let’s continue that counting on a week to 10-day basis up to stand establishment.”
To mitigate the risk of pythium development, LG Seeds has a new seed treatment on most hybrids this season. Schneider is excited for what this means this season and in the future.
“It’s going to be a really big deal in the northern states where we deal with a lot of cool, wet soils at planting,” he says. “Vayantis is a new treatment we added to our arsenal. We’ve seen very good results from it in our research trials. It’s giving us that new mode of action, giving us multiple modes of action—that overlapping effect makes it highly effective. Because of that, I should have fewer replant calls this spring and every spring going forward.”
Schneider knows farmers will be hitting the fields hard, but he says a little bit of patience could save a bigger headache.
“The best chance of success is to start off correctly. Then after, let’s keep scouting until we can get that stand established.”
For more information, talk with your local LG Seeds agronomist.
