A Light Year for Disease Pressure

A Light Year for Disease Pressure

Piel_RyanCrop development is on track, and pollination is going well. According to the latest USDA crop update, the majority of Indiana corn is in good to excellent condition.  Unlike the past few years, we are seeing less disease pressure on corn and soybeans.  All season long HAT has been asking agronomists around the state if they have any disease issues in the crops, and time after time they say no.  Ryan Piel, with DuPont Pioneer, covering the Western part of the state, was the latest to concur it is a light year for disease pressure, “I have not seen a lot of disease. I have seen some gray leaf spot and a little bit of rust, but far below economic thresholds.” While gray leaf  spot has been a problem in some Northern IN fields, for the most part it has not been a major problem.

Even in soybeans, Piel says disease pressure has been low and the crops look good, “The soybeans in my area look good, and about the only issue has been some spider mite infestation.” He added, however, that most producers have been able to deal with this situation effectively.

He urges growers, however, to remain vigilant, “We have to keep scouting our fields. We have a great crop going and we don’t want anything to sneak up on us.”

Listen to the latest DuPont Pioneer agronomy report on the crops section of the HAT web site.

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