If you are a corn producer, you have been barraged with information about the spread of tar spot throughout corn country.

These two little words — tar spot — are injecting fear into any farmer raising corn, even in locations where it hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Ben Heath raises irrigated corn — yellow, white and seed corn — on his farm near Geneva, Neb. Heath says that he is worried about tar spot moving into his area.

“To this point, we have been able to control diseases in corn fairly well with the current products on the market, and a VT fungicide application alone,” he says.

“Irrigation will help create conditions that promote tar spot development,” Syngenta agronomist Travis Gustafson says. “I would not alter irrigation scheduling on corn for tar spot management, as that could do more harm than good. As of right now, I still like the fungicide application at tassel time for tar spot. We have seen great performance from premium fungicides, like Miravis Neo, on tar spot when it is applied at tassel time, and we can make follow-up applications if necessary.”

Keep watch

This upcoming growing season will most likely see low pressure for tar spot across western Corn Belt locations such as Nebraska, Gustafson says.

“I would not make many major changes from our typical fungicide plans,” he says. “But if producers are not normally making fungicide applications to their corn crop, 2024 will be the year for them to consider fungicides because of tar spot.”

Related:Beat soybean diseases to the punch

TAR SPOT ID: Tar spot has not yet been confirmed in the region where Ben Heath farms near Geneva, Neb., but it is on his radar as one of his biggest concerns. (UNL)

Heath, who utilizes a combination of ridge till, strip till and vertical tillage — depending on the field — did not witness tar spot or any major disease problems in corn late season last year because of the hot and dry climate.

“Crown rot and stalk rot from early-season infection were the biggest concerns in corn in 2023,” he adds.

“We continue to trial fungicides in furrow, coupled with hybrid management to alleviate as many stalk diseases as possible,” Heath says. And he continues to be on the watch for tar spot in his region.