

Kiersten Wise, an assistant professor of botany and plant pathology, says fungicides used in fields where conditions were optimal for fungal diseases improved yields and paid for themselves. In fields where fungal diseases are unlikely to develop, however, applying a fungicide is likely a waste of money.

"About five years ago, we never used fungicides in hybrid corn. Then there was this push to use fungicides for yield enhancement, even without disease problems," says Wise, who collaborated on findings that were published as an American Phytopathological Society feature article in the journal Phytopathology. "We found that you would have to get a substantial yield increase for a fungicide treatment to pay for itself. We didn't see that yield increase on a consistent basis, and it wasn't predictable."

Wise and her collaborators reviewed published data from foliar fungicide tests in 14 states, as well as data from their own research plots, to determine which circumstances led to yield increases when fungicides were used. They found that a combination of several factors that would contribute to fungal disease – no-tillfields, fungus-susceptible hybrids, continuous corn, wet field conditions, etc. – needed to be present for yields to increase with fungicide applications.


Growers need to weigh the cost of the treatments – usually $32-34/acre – against the possible benefits and the price of corn. At low corn prices, it takes a larger yield increase to recoup the cost of a fungicide application.

Wise says the general rule was that growers needed to see a yield increase of about 6 bu./acre to recover their investment.

