News
Don’t overcomplicate corn tar spot management
A representative with BASF encourages corn growers not to overcomplicate tar spot management.
Vince Davis, who covers Wisconsin and northern Illinois, tells Brownfield it can be managed similarly to most foliar diseases.
“With a good application timing between that tassel or early fill to about that R3 stage so we can reduce the stress on the crop.”
He says one aspect unique to tar spot is how early it can appear.
“Around the 8 to 10 leaf stage of corn, so pretty early in that rapid vegetative growth phase, and it starts out with just a few black dots that you’ll find on the plant.”
Davis says if the spots are embedded in the leaf, it’s most likely tar spot. He warns the disease can overtake a corn crop in less than two weeks when untreated.
