News

Disease pressure’s likely impact on crop yields this fall

An agronomist says corn and soybean yields could be under pressure this harvest season.

Bill Lienemann, who covers northeast Nebraska with Beck’s Hybrids, says his biggest concern has been the rapid onset of southern rust.  “The field may look really good, but if it dies very rapidly, growers would be really smart to have combine plans speed up and start earlier.”

Southeast Nebraska farmer Jay Hanson says his corn crop was in great shape prior to a major windstorm in August. “The corn is in a really fragile state. Southern rust really moved in even though we had sprayed with fungicide, it just seemed to open the canopy up and leaf diseases are really bad right now.”  

Linneman says there have been several reports of sudden death syndrome in soybeans, but Nelson tells Brownfield, “It’s probably as of a crop as I’ve ever seen.”

Nelson says there is some light disease pressure in soybeans but nothing so far that will have a major impact on yields.

Bill Lienemann:

Jay Hanson: