Early Season Soybean Pests and Diseases

As corn continues to mature into late vegetative stage and in some cases, tassel, fungicide application becomes a common topic of discussion. Disease infection of any kind requires three things often referred to as the disease triangle. The following is not a comprehensive list of corn foliar diseases, but these are the most common for our region.

Conditions that usually create a white mold year are temperatures below 85°F and above average precipitation or high humidity around the time of flowering. With most of the region already experiencing these weather conditions and most of the soybean crop is entering the flowering stage, this raises concerns for white mold risk this year.

Another word to describe a volunteer corn plant is, “it’s a weed”, and a weed, is a plant that is growing where it is not supposed to be.