The 2014 growing season started late for most and has not been a particularly warm season.  On a year where the marketing of a corn crop has taken a turn south, protecting the bushels you have or potentially trying to create extra bushels is very important.

Why Would I Spray at Tasseling Time? (Silking to brown silk)

Corn entering the pollination stage has approximately 60 days to pack starch before physiological maturity.  Having a corn plant running at maximum capacity during that time is crucial. Outside factors can cause yields to drop.

Outside factors?

  • It has been shown that treated plants are able to better tolerate short periods of cold, heat and drought stress.
  • Hail creates open wounds on your solar panels.  Providing protection to these open wounds makes sense.
  • Harvest timing will be later due to later planting.  Standability is key to harvesting the maximum number of cobs. Once into harvest, the increase in moisture from fungicide is only 0.5%-1%.
  • There is a higher risk of disease in a late flowering crop for those of us in Ontario.
  • Products are available that are registered for fusarium and effective DON reduction.  Having a later maturing season keeps a higher amount of moisture around the kernels, leading to an increased potential of molds.

Cautions

  • Application when less than 50% of the tassels have emerged will mean less return on investment
  • The target is the leaves (top 1/3 to 2/3 of crop canopy), not the tassel.  Many producers are experimenting with different nozzle types.  The most consistent results come from nozzles giving coarse droplets that penetrate into the canopy, 20 gal/ac water volume and speeds of 8-9 mile/hr.

Staging is very important to the success of this application!

Kirk Van Will, CCA-ON, Maizex Seeds Yield Specialist, West Middlesex & Lambton Counties
Twitter: @KirkVanWill