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Pioneer Talks Crops
Welcome to Pioneer Talks Crops. This information is provided by the Pioneer agronomist serving your community.
GREG PFEFFER
DEXTER, MO.
Corn harvest is well underway in the Upper Mid-South. So far, corn yields are dramatically better than last year and in several areas corn yields are as good as we have ever had. The weather has been great for corn harvest but definitely tough on dryland soybean acres. It’s hard to imagine that we need a rain after our rather wet start to the season, but we could sure use a shower to help out the dryland soybean acres, especially double-crop acres.
Corn yields are fairly good this year due to the late season rains. However, I’ve received a few calls about grain quality in some areas. The late season rains were good for corn yields but the rain persisted so long that it may have also contributed to some ear rots. The primary ear rots observed this year are diplodia, fusarium, and penicilium ear molds.
Diplodia is primarily characterized by a white, pasty looking mold that can be seen between the kernels. This mold usually begins at the base of the ear and grows toward the ear tip.
Fusarium ear mold is usually more scattered on the ear and may have a white to pink color. Similar to aspergillus, fusarium spores can infect kernels by germinating and growing down the silk channel or via kernel wounds.
Penicilium is easily identified by the dark, army green color. It can be found about anywhere on the ear and is more of an opportunistic mold. Penicilium is also associated with wet weather during grain fill and is darker in color than the aspergillus mold that causes aflatoxin in corn.
Aspergillus, like fusarium, is more commonly associated with dry and hot weather. Some hybrids are more tolerant to diplodia and fusarium ear molds but there is currently no genetic resistance to penicilium or aspergillus molds.
After corn begins to dry down we may see insect pressure in soybeans increase. We haven’t seen a lot of insect pressure in soybeans thus far but I have heard of several reports of soybean podworms in the area. Podworms can cause a lot of damage in a short amount of time. If you see one to two podworms per foot of row – considering the current soybean commodity price – it may warrant treatment. A good pesticide to consider is DuPont™ Prevathon® insect control.Prevathon provides good control of worm species.. It also provides up to 21 days of residual activity to give you peace of mind.
So as you begin your harvest this fall, make sure to watch out for ear molds in corn and insect pressure in soybeans. It also wouldn’t hurt to do a rain dance or two. For more information visit pioneer.com or talk with your local Pioneer sales professional.
DuPont™ Prevathon® is not available in all states.∆
GREG PFEFFER: Agronomist for Pioneer, Dexter, Missouri
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