Pre-Season Tar Spot Checklist for Corn

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Pre-Season Tar Spot Checklist for Corn
Nathan Kleczewski, Extension Plant Pathologist - University of Illinois

Tar spot is a relatively new disease of corn in the Midwest. Todd Gleason has this pre-season checklist for farmers, roughly speaking, north of Interstate 80.

Tar spot has been showing up on field corn…
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Tar spot has been showing up on field corn in Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Florida says University of Illinois Extension Plant Pathologist Nathan Kleczewski (kleh-CHEH-ski).

Kleczewski :20 …where we’ve had the most pressure.
  Quote Summary - That’s where it is found right now. But in terms of severity, where we have seen it the most and the pressure is the highest, if you would take the lower portion of Lake Michigan and draw a section around there, that is where we’ve had the greatest severity right now. That is where we’ve had the most pressure.

Kleczewski (kleh-CHEH-ski) says this is because tar spot likes nighttime lows in the 70’s and a lot humidity. Here’s a pre-season checklist for farmers in these areas concerned about the disease.

Kleczewski :23 …if it fits your production needs.
  Quote Summary - We do know that hybrids have different tolerance to this disease. They are all susceptible but some are less susceptible than others. And if you can get information from seedsman as to the tolerance rankings, go with something that is less susceptible if it fits your production needs.

Wisconsin Extension Plant Pathologist Damon Smith has a list of some corn hybrid tolerances to tar spot. That list can be found on the Badger Crop Doc website. The address is badgercropdoc.com.