Kansas Agronomist Discusses Early-Season Crop Symptoms and Field Management

The contents of this blog come from an interview conducted by Addison Stoddard with Katie Strathman.

BASF Rep Katie Strathman

2:00

Temperatures and weather conditions in May increase the chance of certain diseases and other things that a farmer may see out in their field. Addison Stoddard spoke with Katie Strathman, Kansas Technical Service Representative for BASF about some things she's seen out in the field over the last couple of weeks.

"I've had a couple of questions about what is this symptomology in my corn. Is it herbicide related? I haven't sprayed a post herbicide. Is this something coming back for my pre?

So that silver leaf is actually a response to those temperature swings. And when you have really clear nights where the temperature drops rapidly, you actually get almost like a splash or a freezer burn on those leaves. Even if your temperatures didn't reach freezing, it's a cosmetic symptom. It's not something that you're going to see continue throughout the season.

It's just a function of those temperatures at that specific time," Strathman said.

Strathman also emphasized the importance of pre-emergent herbicides to help a field start clean and stay clean.

"Pre-emergent herbicides are critical in terms of a start clean, stay clean approach.

They really allow you flexibility. So hopefully we have the opportunity in Mother Nature, lets us get into the field and get that pre-application on. But once it's on, then it buys off the larger window to make that post treatment," Strathman said.

Strathman encourages farmers to have a plan in place when it comes to herbicides in order to protect your fields.

"Making sure you have a plan in place to put on a timely fungicide application.

One of the great things about choosing a performance driven fungicide from BASF, something like a Veltyma for corn, a Veltyma for beans, or even Revytek for soybeans is that you can really manage your risk as well. Kind of like we talked about the layering residuals managing our risk on a weed side. When you use a performance driven fungicide like Veltyma or Revytek, you not only get fasting class disease protections, but you also get the confidence in knowing that you made a good decision for your plant's health," Strathman said.