The early morning farm news, texts with commodity prices, alerts about impending weather and, of course, conversations at the local diner all keep you up to date on happenings that can impact the success of your farming operation.
But how do you stay informed about the most important aspects of your growing crop — the activity in your fields that can steal yield and lower return per acre? Todd Harris, sales manager with Nutrien Ag, says crop scouting is at the forefront of his role, so he knows what’s going on in his area and can help keep his customers informed.
“Fungicides and timing of applications are a big deal for us at Nutrien Ag,” Harris says. “We’ve found that if we find tar spot and we’re behind the eight ball, we’ll probably never catch up with it. That’s why we spend time walking fields, talking to our customers and implementing new technologies to get us out in front of diseases before we can’t manage them.”
Harris says they’ve also incorporated drones to capture thermal images and software that analyzes the crops so they can identify diseases before they would ever see it in the field. However, tar spot, northern corn leaf blight and gray leaf spot are common diseases many farmers see regularly, and warm, moist weather paired with susceptible corn hybrids fuel disease occurrence.
In certain environmental conditions, diseases can quickly get out of control. That’s why it’s important to be proactive and scout once a week if you have the time and get ahead of diseases. You’ll also want to pay attention to corn growth stages V16 to V18 (or V8 to V9 if you suspect tar spot) when the weather is warm and wet. Begin with more disease-susceptible hybrids, low-lying fields, areas along a creek, and western sides of fields where dew tends to linger longer.
If you suspect these pathogens, the best time to apply fungicide is R1 to R3. There is a two- to three-week window to manage these diseases before they impact yield. Treatment with a field test-proven product such as Aproach® Prima fungicide with Onmira™ active protects crop quality, plant health and yield potential with both preventive and curative activity.
“Aproach Prima is a very big play for our customers,” Harris says. “Not only because of the cost effectiveness, but we’ve seen really great results with it and Purdue has some good trial results with it as well.”
When choosing products for disease control and enhanced crop health, look for fungicides that have active ingredients that provide multiple modes of action — both preventive and curative. Look for fungicides that are rapidly absorbed into the plant for systemic, residual protection and extended disease control. Fungicides that offer tank-mix compatibility with nutrients and other crop protection products are also helpful — reducing trips across the field, and saving time and costs.
Turn to Corteva.us, your local Corteva Agriscience crop protection retailer or agronomist for control strategies and product insights.
™ ® Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. Aproach® Prima is not registered for sale or use in all states. Contact your state pesticide regulatory agency to determine if a product is registered for sale or use in your state. Onmira™ is a registered active ingredient. Always read and follow label directions. ©2025 Corteva.029504BR (06/25)CAAG5FUNG059
