Diseased corn puts damper on otherwise strong output

Though weather conditions throughout the growing season were optimal this year in many ways, farmers are still facing challenges in the field during harvest. Farmers are saying the final story on harvest this year will likely be varied.

Adair County farmers Doug Holliday and Dan Kilborn both said the fungal disease southern rust, which sppears as a small, powdery, orange-to-light-brown pustules on the upper surface of corn leaves, has taken a toll on corn plants this year. The disease thrives in warm, humid conditions, which the area had this year thanks to consistent, periodic moisture.

Kilborn said some of his corn died prematurely because of disease pressure, which led him to harvest corn. A lot of times he harvests soybeans first, but not this year.

Yields are off from last year by an estimated 40 bushels per acre in early corn Kilborn has already harvested, but last year was also a very strong crop with “very, very good yields.”

“We’re seeing quite a difference in hybrid suceptability to these diseases. The hybrids that are more suceptable maybe died a little prematurely and the yields probably aren’t as great as the hybrids that are more tolerant to disease, are higher moisture and not ready to be harvested yet,” Kilborn said.

Both farmers said fungicides have had varied effects on cornfields affected by southern rust.

“In our case, we applied fungicide on almost every field, which I think is a good thing,” Kilborn said. “From where the leaf is on the plant up, that’s what we try to protect. When we had so much disease pressure, those spores had fungus grow on them and it killed those leaves. The kernels weren’t as big or deep.”

Holliday was happy with the corn yields he was getting in his combine southeast of Greenfield. He did not plant any soybeans this year.

“As we go through it, anywhere the airplane missed with the fungicide, it hurt the yield a little bit — if they went too wide or couldn’t get somewhere on an edge,” Holliday said. “As a whole, I’m very happy with the yields this year.”

Kilborn is very pleased with his soybeans, which he reports are yielding “really quite well.”

“I would say the beans are yielding relatively better than the corn. Maybe we’ll get into corn that’s really good that matured naturally and on schedule. That we haven’t picked yet because it wasn’t ready when the beans were ready,” Kilborn said. “When the beans are ready you go for the beans and the corn will wait until you’re done with the beans.”

Proceeding through and coming out of harvest, Holliday said input costs such as insurance, repairs and fertilizer are “eating the farmer’s lunch right now.”

Markets can also swing heavily one way or another, leading to greater uncertainty about supply and demand.

“It’s almost as though if they wouldn’t report at all and let the market seek its own price to suit demand it would be best,” Holliday said. “If we could get E-15 yearround across the U.S. we would use a lot more corn. We need our livestock to use up the corn as well that way. Unless things change, I don’t know how anyone could afford to plant beans again next year.”