March 28, 2024

Field Check Up Series: Weigh the value of midseason inputs

The corn vegetative stage is a critical time for farmers. This growth stage provides opportunities to fix problems in the field and keep yield potential on track. The challenge is to evaluate the crop health in each field and then determine the need for additional inputs.

Channel Seedsmen evaluate crop health and share their findings with customers, providing an unbiased opinion about which fields can benefit from vegetative stage input applications. Some choices are easier than others.

If weeds are a problem, spraying an herbicide is an obvious choice. If corn is showing yellowed leaves from nitrogen deficiency, the decision to sidedress is necessary.

For the third week of May in Indiana, farmers should be considering opportunities to protect the yield potential of their corn, even at the early vegetative stages. One means of protecting the crop is by adding a foliar fungicide to the tank mix to apply with a post-emergence herbicide.

The criteria for vegetative fungicide applications on corn can be less clear. Farmers may want to protect healthy fields with good yield potential as well as fields at risk for disease from wounded plants or management practices.

Fields susceptible to disease include these conditions:

• Continuous corn.

• Damage from hail or wind.

• Abundant corn residue.

• Feeding from insects.

Field size and topography are also considerations, as some fields are not well positioned for aerial fungicide applications late in the vegetative stage. During the early vegetative stage, fungicide can be applied with field machinery, along with an herbicide.

Not all fungicide products are created equal. Check product labels to confirm the fungicide you select will eradicate the disease species in your field. Also, verify the fungicide application rate with timing and plant size — in some cases a half rate of fungicide product is appropriate.

Lastly, when tank mixing fungicides with herbicides, check labels for guidance to avoid plant injury. Visit the Agronomy Library at Channel.com/Ag for more information about midseason corn growth and inputs.

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