Soybean Diseases, Corn Diseases and Looking Forward to 2022

As we are approaching another harvest season there area few things that our team at Elk Mound Seed wants you to take into consideration. It seems like we have had everything thrown at us this season, but since mid-August, the majority of Wisconsin has seen plenty of rain. This could lead to some disease issues in row crops.

Soybeans

The biggest concern in soybeans this fall is definitely white mold. We are already seeing white mold in advanced stages where it will ultimately kill the crop before it reaches physiological maturity. Beans on beans, heavier soils, and in varieties with lower white mold scores are where we are seeing the most severe disease pressure. It is important to be in your fields now assessing crop injury to decide which fields or varieties should be harvested first.

When looking forward to your 2022 crop plans, take a hard look at your crop rotation, consider varieties with good white mold scores, and look into incorporating a foliar fungicide with your herbicide program.

Corn

For the most part, the corn crop is looking great in a good portion of Wisconsin. Near Elk Mound, silage harvest is likely going to begin towards the middle of next week. Locally, we are going to see record or near-record yields. This good news does not come without the possibility of some concerns as we move towards harvest.

With the recent rains we have been getting, there’s reason to have worries with stalk rot. Stalk diseases favor weather with stretches of heat, humidity, and heavy dews. We have had plenty of all three of theses over the past several weeks. Stalk disease will affect the pith of the plant and can drastically influence late season stalk-strength. It is important to be out scouting your fields and checking stalk integrity. A “pinch” of the lower stalks will typically help identify these diseases, but it is also important split some stalks to take a further look. Affected fields and varieties should he harvested first.

When looking towards 2022, again consider your crop rotation. Tillage can also help bury the infected residue to help reduce damage to subsequent crops.

2022 Seed Availability Outlook

The seed corn and soybean crop look rather good. Some of the unirrigated acres are going to have below average yields, but it is looking like the irrigated acres are going to make up for this. Expect good supplies on corn and soybean seed for 2022.

Now the bad news. Due to the extreme heat and drought in the Pacific Northwest, the forages and turf seed crop is going be very poor. The drought was widespread, and the heat came at a very crucial time. Expect the clover, forage grasses, and turf grass seed inventories to be in short supply and prices will likely reflect this. The alfalfa seed supply also be tight, but not as bad as the clover and grasses.

We are going to be stressing the importance of getting a crop plan put together for 2022, especially for acres that are going to be forages.