It's Not Too Early to Talk Fungicides
Dec 04, 2018
With this past season’s impact of diseases like gray leaf spot, anthracnose and a new player “Tar Spot” have put fungicide treatments on the radar for 2019. Typically, fungicide treatments have been planned in season, but that might not be the best approach to get the most from your seed genetics.
Answer Plot® data shows that not all hybrids respond to fungicide applications the same way. We’ve seen some locations where disease pressure has been relatively low, yet the hybrids respond significantly to a fungicide application. That’s because fungicides do more than just control disease. They affect plants in other physiological ways, including influencing nitrogen use efficiency, respiration maintenance and hormone production. All these things can affect yield potential, even in the absence of disease.
Building a solid plant health strategy can come down to three steps:
Review your seed choices and learn how they respond to a fungicide application. Take a look at your genetics’ response-to scores to make sure you’re not missing an opportunity to optimize yield.
Based on the review, plan and purchase fungicides and adjuvants on acres with high-response hybrids. Data shows a positive return on investment, even when disease pressure is low.
For hybrids that are less responsive to fungicides, hold off on fungicide purchases to assess disease pressure in-season. If disease comes in early and is heavy, apply a fungicide to help protect yield potential.
For more information and follow up, contact your Premier Agronomist today! They will be glad to review your hybrids and help make the decisions on response to fungicide treatments of those hybrids for the 2019 planting season.
Answer Plot® data shows that not all hybrids respond to fungicide applications the same way. We’ve seen some locations where disease pressure has been relatively low, yet the hybrids respond significantly to a fungicide application. That’s because fungicides do more than just control disease. They affect plants in other physiological ways, including influencing nitrogen use efficiency, respiration maintenance and hormone production. All these things can affect yield potential, even in the absence of disease.
Building a solid plant health strategy can come down to three steps:
Review your seed choices and learn how they respond to a fungicide application. Take a look at your genetics’ response-to scores to make sure you’re not missing an opportunity to optimize yield.
Based on the review, plan and purchase fungicides and adjuvants on acres with high-response hybrids. Data shows a positive return on investment, even when disease pressure is low.
For hybrids that are less responsive to fungicides, hold off on fungicide purchases to assess disease pressure in-season. If disease comes in early and is heavy, apply a fungicide to help protect yield potential.
For more information and follow up, contact your Premier Agronomist today! They will be glad to review your hybrids and help make the decisions on response to fungicide treatments of those hybrids for the 2019 planting season.