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Preparing for tar spot

A technical service representative with BASF says Midwestern corn farmers need a plan to fight tar spot.

“The last time I saw tar spot this early, with the forecast this wet, was in 2021.”

Kurt Maertens, who covers eastern Iowa & western Illinois, says conditions are lining up for heavy tar spot pressure across the Corn Belt.

“With the rain that we’ve had coming across northern Missouri, northeast Kansas, eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, all of Iowa, and parts of western & northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin, we’re just in this wet pattern, along with finding lesions this time of year here in late June.”  He says, “What that translated into (in ’21) is into July and August we had just a tremendous amount of tar spot along with other fungal disease.”

He tells Brownfield a single fungicide pass at VT or R1 has shown to provide the best protection, however higher use rates perform better in heavy pressure scenarios.

“I saw that higher use rate back in ‘21 add us significant bushels.”

Brownfield spoke with Maertens at the BASF Midwest Research Farm Field Day Wednesday near Champaign, IL.

AUDIO: Kurt Maertens – BASF