News

Agronomist says stalk rot could reduce yield

Monsanto technical agronomist Jason Holman has enjoyed working with Indiana’s corn crop this year.

“The corn crop this year, in my opinion, was one of the prettiest crops we’ve seen,” Holman told Brownfield Ag News Thursday.

Some of the better yields reported in southern Indiana range from the low 200s to about 220 bushels to the acre.  That, Holman tells Brownfield, is despite instances of some disease issues that may affect harvest.

“Fusarium crown rot and anthracnose stalk rot can impact yield from a standability perspective, and that’s something that I think we need to know about,” said Holman.  “We need to understand what fields may be hit harder than others, so we can minimize losses by getting into those fields earlier.”

If there is any sign of those conditions, Holman recommends shelling corn as soon as is practical.

“This is not the year to let corn stand in the field and dry down,” said Holman.  “If we have the capability to dry and we can do it efficiently, I would rather see stuff come in a little bit wetter this year than waiting for it to dry down to 15 percent in the field.”

Holman says warm days have helped to take moisture out of standing corn.

AUDIO: Jason Holman (5 min. MP3)