Disease pressure fuels 2025 seed decisions - Brevant^® seeds offers advice on top three corn and soybean threats

Intensifying disease pressures are impacting fields and costing farmers yield potential across the Corn Belt. Tyler Stastny, retail sales agronomist for Brevant^® seeds in Nebraska, says tar spot, Goss’s wilt and soybean cyst nematode (SCN) are three of the top threats from 2024 that are driving growers’ decisions for the upcoming season.

″What we have seen in the field this year can be an indicator of what’s to come,″ Stastny said. ″Farmers should apply their learnings from this season to plan for 2025.″

Tar spot

Tar spot is stealing yield potential from fields as it rapidly spreads across the Corn Belt, causing widespread economic impact. Stastny reported the foliar disease showed up in fields later than normal and more severely this year. With tar spot symptoms appearing in more advanced crop stages, management options are limited. To stay ahead of damage from tar spot next season, Stastny recommends farmers start their defense strategies with seed.

″Seed selection can provide a first line of defense against tar spot pressure,″ Stastny said. ″Planting hybrids with greater genetic tolerance to tar spot can help farmers save on inputs and mitigate the spread for seasons to come.″

Goss’s wilt

Although Goss’s wilt is not spreading as rapidly as tar spot, infections can be just as devastating — reducing yield potential as much as 50%, according to University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension. With no in-season management tools available to control Goss’s wilt, those who experienced destruction from the disease in 2024 should put an emphasis on seed genetics as they make decisions for the upcoming season.

″A decade ago, Goss’s wilt just ate plants alive,″ Stastny said. ″Through breeding and genetic advancements, farmers now have access to superior technology to better manage the disease. For example, new Brevant brand Vorceed Enlist corn products have strong disease packages for Goss’s wilt tolerance for corn-on-corn acres.″

Although using fungicides is an option to combat tar spot pressure, planting corn products with increased resistance to the disease can help safeguard yield potential from the start.

SCN

SCN often goes unnoticed or gets misdiagnosed as nutrient deficiency or environmental stress. According to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, SCN is thought to cost soybean producers $1.5 billion annually in North America. Stastny noted the impact SCN has on the industry is substantial and affects more soybean acres than farmers realize. He added that, with SCN populations on the rise, farmers need another tool to suppress expansion and improve plant health.

″Planting varieties with a different source of SCN resistance, such as Peking, can help protect fields early by giving plants the opportunity to develop a strong root system and set up soybeans for success,″ Stastny said. ″The current class of Brevant brand Enlist E3 soybeans features several Peking-resistant varieties to help farmers defend their acres against this yield-robbing pest like never before.″

Brevant seeds recommends that farmers work with their local ag retailer to manage these yield threats for the upcoming season.