Because of the rash of questions I have attached a foliar fungicide response chart for all corn hybrids in the 2008-2009 (last year’s) seed guide.

Keep in mind these are not specific recommendations but rather a guide as to which hybrids we believe have best potential response to a fungicide application. We are in no way guaranteeing an economic response from the ratings presented in this chart. This should be made very clear to growers that fungicide applications are made at their own risk.

When considering a fungicide application I still believe that the IPM approach is still the best. Encourage growers to scout for the presence of disease; it makes no economic sense to spray when there is no disease present. Also the longer they can prolong the application the longer the fungicide will be present during grain fill. Typically if a plant can remain disease free for 21 – 28 days after pollination full yield potential will be achieved.

Given the current commodity price situation the best approach to take when discussing foliar fungicides with your customers is to first determine what the treatment cost per acre will be and the price they expect to sell their crop for. For example if the treatment cost is $30.00 per acre @ $3.00 corn they need a minimum of 10 Bu per acre response to pay for the treatment, not including charges for higher harvest moistures. Given the current weather conditions the harvest moisture difference could be significant.

If you have any questions please contact myself or your agronomist.

Tim Jordal, CCA
Product & Agronomy Manager