Choosing the right genetics is the most important decision growers make when tackling leaf diseases such as northern corn leaf blight (NCLB). Fungicides applied in-season can provide both curative and preventative benefits, but the battle to fend off yield-robbing leaf diseases starts with your seed choice explains, OMAFRA field pathologist Albert Tenuta. In this episode… Read More
Category: Corn Disease, Weeds & Insects
Ontario’s corn crop is showing high vomitoxin levels and growers are being urged to harvest as quickly as possible to preserve corn quality. Last week, the OMAFRA Field Crops team revealed that 26% of the samples taken in its annual vomitoxin survey had DON concentrations of 2.0 ppm or greater. At these levels, vomitoxin produced… Read More
Did you know in-bred(parent) corn lines are short wee things? And that gibberella genetic resistance is a multi-gene trait? If ever you’ve been curious as to where hybrid corn lines originate, this latest Corn School is for you. RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith visited Ottawa’s Central Experimental Farm to meet with Dr. Lana Reid, corn breeder for Agriculture… Read More
Leaf disease can strike anywhere on a corn plant, but where does it take the biggest bite out of corn yield? In this Real Agriculture Corn School episode, OMAFRA plant pathologist Albert Tenuta explains that diseases such as northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) and grey leaf spot typically take root in field residue where pathogens… Read More
Goss’s Wilt, a bacterial infection caused by gram positive bacteria, Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis (CMN), is on the move in Manitoba. The disease was first found near Roland in 2009, and in 2015, 35 of 64 corn fields surveyed tested positive. In this episode of the Corn School, Pratisara Bajracharya of Manitoba Agriculture describes some of… Read More
Put down your popcorn, buckle your seatbelt and hold on as Real Agriculture’s Bernard Tobin and Peter Johnson rip through a 2016 Corn School preview. What’s up for Corn School 2016 on Real Agriculture? Where will we go? What will we cover? Who will you see? You’ll get it all in three minutes. The 2016… Read More
If farmers want to supersize their corn yields, they have to challenge conventional thinking and become students of the crop. That was the main message National Corn Growers Association yield contest champion Randy Dowdy shared with hundreds of farmers at the 2016 SouthWest Agricultural Conference in Ridgetown, Ontario earlier this week. In 2014, Dowdy set… Read More
Confused about what the new rules governing neonicotinoid-treated corn and soybean seed means for seed orders this fall? You’re not the only one — the Ontario government is hosting information sessions and webinars this week, but several questions and plenty of confusion swirl about what paperwork you must do to access neonic-treated seed. To help… Read More
We’re approaching a critical stage for corn — tasseling — and weather conditions in some areas are conducive to high disease development. Recently in the Corn School, we’ve talked prioritizing fields for a fungicide application and where and how to scout for leaf disease in corn, but did you know that there’s another factor at… Read More
Following frost and challenging weather conditions, it’s not uncommon to find wide staging variability in Ontario corn fields this year. Uneven development will complicate timing of fungicide and insecticide applications, notes Dale Cowan, senior agronomist with AGRIS Cooperative, in this installment of the Corn School. “You have to get an idea of what percentage of the… Read More
Several factors converge to increase the threat of diseases on a corn crop, from the history of a disease in the field, to the amount of residue, to the weather. Unfortunately, several corn diseases are carried by wind and can end up in your field whether you practice good rotation practices or not. Related: How… Read More
You have several corn fields and only one of you — how do you prioritize which field gets fungicide first? 2015 is shaping up to likely be a high disease pressure year, says Albert Tenuta, field crop plant pathologist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and a little planning now… Read More
Skipped plants in a corn row aren’t always due to mechanical error or seedling blights. Early insects like wireworm or grubs can kill plants rather stealthily, leaving gaps in a row or neat leaf damage, while cutworm can clip off a patch of plants overnight. Knowing which insect causes what damage is important when assessing… Read More
Do you manage your corn crop differently, based on whether or not you’ll be using a fungicide or topped-up nitrogen rates? That may end up being a new recommendation, as research is beginning to offer clues on how each input works with the other — sometimes providing not just additive benefits, but synergistic ones (think:… Read More
Farmers fought hard (sometimes through deep snow that disappeared soon after) to get the 2014 Ontario corn crop off, but there’s as much as 5% of the crop still standing. There’s really nothing you can do about the crop being out until the snow finally melts, but farmers who have been keeping eye on their… Read More