What We're Seeing Now & Planning for in 2027 with Crop Diseases

On this episode of the Cornelius Seed Podcast, District Sales Manager Luke Davis shares what he’s seeing in northeast Iowa as late-season disease pressure ramps up, including tar spot, southern rust, crown rot in corn, and SDS in soybeans, with some northern corn leaf blight also present. They discuss how recent weather set the stage, why fungicide decisions were made around tassel despite limited early symptoms, and why late applications now are mostly case-by-case and often not cost-effective unless crop is later or harvest is delayed. Davis emphasizes scouting and taking notes for future planning, prioritizing harvest on fields with stalk/crown rot risk, doing pinch tests for stalk integrity, and identifying soybean diseases like SDS vs brown stem rot. He also notes a split-planter observation of less crown rot with Pivot Bio G3 and highlights Victrato seed treatment (stacked with Profit Guard Plus) and variety selection as key SDS management tools. 00:34 Podcast Intro and Goals00:59 Field Disease Snapshot01:38 Weather and Fungicide Timing04:07 Late Season Spray Decisions05:54 Harvest Priority and Stalk Rots07:01 Biologicals Trial Results08:33 Fungicide ROI Next Year09:51 Soybean SDS Reality Check11:07 SDS Management Tools13:59 Scout Now Plan Ahead15:43 Wrap Up and Thanks