Little Crop Disease Seen, But Don’t Take My Word For It – Ag Matters

Jeff Miller from Cornell Cooperative Extension has good news when it comes to crop disease.  He hasn't seen much of it CNY corn and soybean crops, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't check your crop.

Now is the time for growers to be checking corn fields to look for foliar diseases like northern corn leaf spot and eyespot. Those growers who have more susceptible hybrids need to identify the presence of these diseases soon after tasseling to have a chance to apply fungicides if necessary. I haven’t found any northern corn leaf blight in any of the fields I have scouted in Oneida or Madison counties this year. Another reason to scout these fields at this time is to record any diseases that are identified and then use this information when making decisions on next years varieties.

Some early maturity soybean varieties will be changing color soon and it is much easier to identify foliar diseases now before the leaves change. I haven’t seen much eyespot or downy mildew this season and “knock on wood” no white mold but, if you have any of these diseases it will be important to search out varieties that have resistance to them.

Contact CCE's Ag Team for more information 315-736-3394, office hours are 8:30 to 4:40 Mon-Fri.

SOURCE:  Cornell Cooperative Extension