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Up until recent years, the scope of a fungicide application was limited to disease prevention and was never recommended unless conditions were favorable for disease. Today, many fields are getting treated with fungicides without the presence of disease and still significant yield increases have been documented. What has changed?
This phenomenon of increased yield, in the absence of disease, began with the introduction of strobilurin fungicide products like Headline® and Quadris® which were first noted for increasing yields when applied to vegetable crops 5-7 years ago and now are gaining widespread use in wheat, corn and soybean production. The strobilurin products have a very broad range of effects on the crop from improved standability to better grain test weight. One of the little known effects that is occurring with the use of strobilurin fungicides on corn is the increased levels of nitrogen that are found in the corn plant after application. At the Brandt Research Farm in Pleasant Plains this past year, tissue tests documented a 14% increased level of nitrogen in the corn plant after the strobilurin application compared with untreated corn. This increase of nitrogen in the corn plant improves the yield by raising the protein levels in the plant thus increasing grain yield even when disease pressure is low.
In years where very little disease is present on the corn during grain fill, as was the case in most of the Brandt Community in 2007, the yield increases averaged 10 -12 bushel per acre. When disease is present during grain fill, as was the case in 2006, the yield response to strobilurin fungicide averaged 21 bu. /ac. (2006 research farm trials.) This 21 bu/ac yield response is the effect of the increased nitrogen efficiency added to the disease control through the use of a strobilurin fungicide.
The proper timing for the best response to strobilurin in corn is after full tassel. This timing ensures that the upper 3 leaves on the corn plant are fully expanded for good leaf coverage and disease prevention as well as assisting the plant in meeting the high nitrogen requirement of grain fill over the next 30 days. This same increase in nutrient efficiency occurs when applying strobilurin chemistry to wheat and soybeans. The timing of application on wheat is a flag leaf stage and in soybeans is at R3 to R4 stage which is the point at which the soybean begins to fill pods.
Preplan Your Application
As you preplan your fungicide applications with your Brandt representative for 2008, remember to consider the value of not only the disease protection provided by strobilurin fungicides but also the value of increased yield through enhanced plant nutrient metabolism.
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