With moderate temperatures and lots of rainfall, corn and soybean growers have had an environment fairly conducive to pathogen presence of diseases including gray leaf spot and southern corn rust said Nick Hustedde, FMC Technical Service Representative prior to the kick-off of the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois this week. He cautioned there are also wind-borne spores on their way in and as a result, growers are seeing some late season infections. Hustedde explained that when a grower plants early and there are cool, wet conditions, the environment becomes conducive for sudden death syndrome and growers began to see some symptoms show up in the past week.
Hustedde said fungicide applications are fairly crop specific. He explained that in the case of corn, for example, a grower can see late diseases that can infect early. In these cases, it’s important to have a fungicide option that has a flexible application window. That’s where In Fortix, which is a joint venture between FMC and Arysta LifeScience, comes in. Fortix allows for either ground or aerial application giving it the flexibility for the grower to apply based on what type of pathogen a grower is fighting.
Growers can apply Fortix proactively before symptoms of disease show up. In some cases, however, a grower may see a major epidemic and they may be a little more reactive. Regardless of the strategy used, Hustedde said Fortix is a one and done application and a grower can expect an average yield increase of 7 to 14 bushels per acre for corn and 4+ bushels per acre for soybeans versus untreated acres.
To learn more about application strategies and the role of Fortix, listen to Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with Nick Hustedde: Interview with Nick Hustedde, FMC
