Do fungicide applications pay for farmers?
By Jean Caspers-Simmet Agri News staff writer CLARION, Iowa — Farmers sprayed nearly three million acres of corn with fungicides last year, but as far as Iowa State University researchers are concerned the jury is still out on whether spraying boosts yield enough to increase profits. Alison Robertson, an ISU Extension crop plant pathologist, discussed a 2007 ISU research project that looked at yield response of corn to foliar fungicide application at the recent Northern Iowa Research Farm annual meeting in the Heartland Museum in Clarion. Data from 26 of 35 on-farm locations across the state showed a mean yield response of 3.3 bushels per acre. A positive yield response occurred at 20 of 26 locations ,but the fungicide application was profitable at just seven locations. Disease severity was measured at eight of the 26 locations, Robertson said. Fungicide applications significantly reduced gray leaf spot, common rust and stalk rot severity. The greatest yield response was at the farm w
