As I traveled though Illinois last week, the corn was looking pretty good – until I started heading west on I-88 and began seeing the aftermath of the straight line wind storm that traveled a path across eastern Iowa and through northern Illinois on July 11, leaving lots of downed corn in its wake.

Growers who were hit are understandably concerned about the situation, especially those who already had a rough start to the growing season. BASF Technical Market Manager Nick Fassler offers some advice. “We have corn that’s been root lodged and is now in the process of recovering and doing it’s best to upright itself,” Nick said. “These denser canopies that have been created by lodging can help diseases like gray leaf spot and northern corn leaf blight really thrive. So, in these heavy downed areas where the corn’s likely to recover, we would recommend applications of Headline or Headline AMP to protect from these diseases and help mitigate that stress.”

Nick attended the Wyffels Corn Strategies event last week in Illinois where BASF was a partner and there was quite a bit of discussion about how this year more than ever before it is vital for growers to get the highest yields possible. Depending on the scenario, Nick also has some application timing advice for growers who are seeing uneven crops in the same field during this important time of the year for getting good yields.

“If the majority of the field is tasseled, you have some laggard plants within a week or less of reaching tassel, we’d recommend the grower wait until the field is fully tasseled, and then make a Headline AMP application with adjuvant,” Nick says. If there is a greater difference in growth in a field, possibly due to a replant situation, Nick says apply Headline or Headline AMP without the adjuvant. “Finally, if a grower went in and planted soybeans in the wet holes, we recommend Headline because it’s labeled for both corn and soybeans.” He highly recommends that growers consult with their local ag retailer or aerial applicator if they have questions.