37 Like Us on Facebook: BetterFarmingON Better Farming | January 2024 testing over 20 ppm, with one over 35 ppm. The question is, how do we manage for DON and where do we go from here? After 2018, a concerted effort was made by seed corn companies to identify hybrids that were susceptible to Gibberella ear rot and either removed them from their lineup or ranked them according to their susceptibility to make farmers aware of the risk. Hybrid selection is a key place to start to assess the risk of growing hybrids, susceptible to ear rot and DON production. Most seed guides will indicate a ranking of risk. There are differences in hybrids but no hybrid is resistant to ear rot. Protecting plant health High yield environments are more susceptible to the risk of both leaf pathogens such as NCLB, and most recently, tar spot and Gibberella ear rot. The conditions that favour leaf pathogens also usually favour Gibberella infections. Application of appropriate fungicides at the proper time is necessary to reduce the incidence and severity of these pathogens. In the case of reducing DON, it is at best a 50 to 60 per cent reduction. Plant health protection plans are a necessary consideration for crop production, and they are becoming a prerequisite. It’s good to have a plan in place so you can execute it when conditions require action. The confounding factor in 2023 was the high incidence and extreme severity of tar spot. Areas that were missed by the applicator due to their irregular field shapes or obstacles in the way saw yield reduction of six to 50 bushels per acre. In fields where farmers opted not to spray, we saw yield reductions of 50 to 60 bushels per acre compared to neighbouring fields that were sprayed. These unsprayed fields died prematurely, had low test weights, were slow to dry down, and, most often but not always, had lower DON levels. Perhaps not the best solution to managing for DON. Environmental conditions play a big role in making the decision to protect plant health. Persistent wet canopies caused by rainfall, dew, fog and high humidity create the environment for disease infection. In 2022, we saw minor amounts of tar spot and very low DON levels because it was much drier during the critical growth phase of grain fill. Regular crop scouting, paying attention to weather forecasts, and using some of the disease forecasting tools will be necessary going forward. Alleviating any additional abiotic and biotic stresses will be a prudent activity to do. Control what you can control. Lean on a trusted advisor to help you along the way. BF REVOLUTIONIZE AGRIBUSINESS WITH ADVANCED ITALIAN MACHINERY From harvesters to fruit picking machinery, discover Italian ingenuity and innovation Seize new opportunities and redefine success in agribusiness EXPLORE AGRICULTURAL INNOVATIONS TODAY machinesitalia.org crops: yield matter$ 2023 DON Distribution (SW Ontario) % of samples DON Ranges in ppm 0.0 <3.1 70.7 >3.1<4 12.5 >4<5 9.6 >5<6 >6<7 3.4 3.4 0.3 >7<8 >8 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 2018 DON Distribution (SW Ontario) % of samples DON Ranges in ppm 0.0 <3.1 46.2 >3.1<4 15.4 >4<5 23.1 >5<6 >6 7.7 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 7.7 DALE COWAN Dale is agronomy strategy manager and senior agronomist for AGRIS Co-operative. CCA-ON, 4R NMS. His popular Yield Matters column has educated Better Farming readers since 1999.
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