A crop protection specialist identifies two crop diseases as the biggest threats to yield this year.
Jason Gibson with Corteva Agriscience says tar spot is the number one disease on the minds of corn farmers, and for soybeans it’s white mold.
“The first thing a person really needs to pay close attention to is weather forecast, particularly during key stages of crop development. For tar spot, we see a lot of tar spot showing up in that milk to dough stage, R2 (and) R3.”
He tells Brownfield tar spot thrives in cool temperatures with high humidity, cloud cover, and extended periods of dew throughout the night.
