Fungicides
Judge for yourself: Travis McCormick’s DOES IT PAY fungicide trial reaped a major yield increase.
Just because tar spot was mostly a no-show in 2022 and 2023 doesn’t mean that will be the case in 2024. Charting humidity levels can help predict if the disease will strike.
Drone application has a lot of advantages for farmers and ag retailers, but it may not be the right choice for everyone.
“We’re living in a world where it’s just a matter of time,” Harlan Asmus says referencing the development of resistance.
David Heublein won the conventional, non-irrigated category of the 2023 NCGA yield contest for the state. The amazing yield was grown with only one-third of the total rainfall his fields usually get in a growing season.
It’s no surprise those who chase high-yield honors set aside acres for that very purpose. However, there’s something to learn from the management practices that go into growing a record crop.
For the sixth year, Farm Journal has conducted a survey to gauge farmer use of online crop input purchasing tools. Here’s what we found.
Samuel Taylor, senior analyst for farm inputs at Rabobank, shares what to watch for the fertilizer, seed and crop protection price outlook.
Corn growers in 13 states have confirmed tar spot outbreaks now. Iowa leads the pack with the disease reported in at least 36 counties. Indiana is a close second. “It’s starting to explode,” one agronomist says.
“This is the earliest we’ve reported tar spot in Iowa,” says Robertson, Iowa State professor of plant pathology. She says the early detection could be due to the Tarspotter app. Here’s how it works.
Flattened corn can often recover, stand and produce decent yields. Soybeans can shake off a storm and flourish, but beware spider mites in the next 10 days if temperatures stay 85-plus degrees with low humidity.
Row spacing is getting a closer look from farmers who are evaluating the practices that contribute most to soybean yield. Agronomic experts offer their insights here to help growers heading to the field this week.
With nitrogen prices increasing, growers have their minds squarely on fertilizer costs. But perhaps a better consideration for growers is how to maximize the efficiency of the nitrogen they do put down.
Before planting even starts, diseases are likely on soil residue. That includes tar spot. While many believe rainfall and temperatures are key tar spot drivers, Agronomist Missy Bauer says there’s a third indicator.
Unlike the early tar spot problem farmers experienced in 2021, the disease wasn’t first reported in Indiana until August this year. Darcy Telenko studies the timing of fungicide applications in battling tar spot.
“If we cut 20 seconds on every fill, and we do 50 fill ups in a day— we save 25 minutes,” Cody Ray says. “That could be another 10 acres a day.”
Corn subjected to heavy rainfall can still deliver a significant yield response to a nitrogen application -- in some cases, up to 60 bu.
Breeding advances brought an era of advanced disease control. The future of disease tolerance will use advanced breeding with targeted approaches that help maximize corn and soybean yield potential.
With tar spot’s ability to rapidly spread, agronomists fear another wave of the disease will hit the Midwest again this season.
Tar spot and southern rust are increasing concerns and require a proactive management plan. Some fungicides can mitigate these and other diseases while protecting plants from stress. Retailers can guide your decisions.
Availability could be a challenge this season. If you can only make one application, pull the trigger between tassel and R3 in corn and between R2 and R3 in soybeans, advises Ken Ferrie, Farm Journal Field Agronomist.
Alec Horton begins every wheat crop aiming for 100 bu. per acre dryland yield through seed treatments, proper seeding rates, tiller promotion, vegetative growth reduction and moisture conservation. However, he didn’t see a 121.48-bushel bin buster in the cards when he planted “Joe” in the fall of 2015.
Rotation is only defense against this new soybean disease
See the latest crop technology from companies like AgBiTech, Innvictis Crop Care, LLC,, Syngenta, and more.
To increase the speed and probability of discovering new crop protection products, Monsanto is collaborating with Atomwise.
The Farm Journal Test Plots study how foliar fungicide impacts yield and how to get the most out of the fungicide dollar.
Farm Journal Test Plots studies how foliar fungicide use increases yield.
Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc. is introducing a new tool to help farmers fight pests in a variety of crops. The fungicide, Amplitude, is approved for the 2018 season and uses the same active ingredient as Stargus.
Early this week Syngenta announced that it and Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd have entered an agreement with Nufarm to sell a portfolio of crop protection products for $490 million.
With farmer and regulator eyes turned toward the two companies, Bayer and Monsanto technology leads on Thursday repeated their confidence the merger will close by the end of 2017. The companies need approval from regulatory authorities in 30 countries.