Stay ahead of fungal development

Much-needed rainfall has finally arrived, with most of the NW agronomy area receiving 3 inches or more. Thankfully, there’s been minimal ponding and very few significant washouts that could complicate harvest. You often hear the term “Million Dollar Rain”—this one may live up to that with the extremely warm conditions we had leading into the event.

Corn has grown rapidly this week, and I expect we’ll start seeing tassels by the 4th of July. With the added moisture, conditions are ideal for fungus development in both corn and soybean fields, making fungicide applications an important consideration.

We still have a few weeks to make fungicide decisions for corn and maximize both yield potential and return on investment, but I encourage you not to delay. For soybeans, there’s more time to plan, and we often see the best results when fungicide and insecticide are applied together for a synergistic effect.

I have found a few aphids in the northeastern part of the NW agronomy area and have heard of additional reports in that region. However, there are no widespread insect concerns beyond typical seasonal expectations at this time.

Be sure to talk with your local SFG agronomist to plan your fungicide applications and protect your yield potential.