With so many Bt trait offerings on the market today, it can be challenging to determine which package best fits your farm. Each package contains different combinations of traits with different levels of effectiveness against specific pests. Understanding best management practices is critical to ensuring control options for years to come.

Grain corn ear molds can lead to yield loss at harvest. If mycotoxins are present, grain may be toxic to animals and ultimately unusable. It’s important to understand environmental conditions that lead to diseases and how those diseases affect grain.

Factors that stress corn throughout the growing season can lead to stalk rots, which can lead to yield loss due to premature plant death or lodging. Understanding stalk rots risk factors and management practices are critical.

Stand establishment depends not only on the success or failure of germination but also on early season stresses. If you notice early stand problems, carefully examine damaged seedlings to discover clues to the likely causes.

Northern corn rootworm (NCRW) is one of the most damaging corn pests in North America. Because the NCRW typically has a one-year life cycle, rotating corn with another crop has been a successful management strategy. Unfortunately, some populations of NCRW have successfully adapted to a corn soybean rotation and now have a two-year life cycle. This is called extended diapause because the eggs remain dormant in the soil for almost two years before hatching.

Producers who plant insect-traited corn are required to manage refuges to preserve Bt technology. With so many trait options, following refuge management guidelines has become more complicated. SmartStax^® Refuge Advanced^® available in Mycogen^® brand hybrids simplifies achieving higher whole-farm yield potential by making refuge management easier. Refuge Advanced ensures refuge compliance in the Corn Belt¹ with a blend of 95 percent SmartStax seeds and 5 percent non-insect-traited refuge seeds in one bag.

Before planting, producers planning to use Mycogen^® brand BMR and TMF corn hybrids should carefully select which fields will be used for corn silage in order to maximize quality and yield.

Early season seedling damage can significantly reduce yield. Scout cornfields regularly and diagnose problems before economic losses occur.

Dry summers and relentless pests increase your corn crop’s susceptibility to aflatoxins, which are harmful to livestock. Reduce your exposure with effective management.

Slug damage in corn and soybeans has increased with the adoption of no-till and minimum-till practices. Because rescue treatment options are limited, growers should take steps to prevent slug damage.

Spider mites can be a major corn pest in western regions of the United States. Mite infestations damage corn by removing photosynthates from the leaves, resulting in loss of leaf tissue, stalk breakage, kernel shrink and premature death. Damage from spider mites may lead to yield or tonnage loss and poor quality silage with low relative feed value.