Farmers not only had to deal with overwhelming amounts of rain this year, but also dangerous levels of fungi and diseases attacking their crops.

West Central Cooperative Field Agronomist Scott Shannon says for corn, the two biggest culprits are Northern Corn Leaf Blight and stalk rot.  Northern Corn Leaf Blight can kill an entire plant by cutting off essential sugars from the leaf to the stalk and not allow the plant to mature.  As for stalk rot, Shannon notes that because of several inches of rain, if there’s high winds, the stalks may not be strong enough to survive.

Shannon has also seen signs of Sudden Death Syndrome and white mold for soybeans.  He explains what Sudden Death Syndrome is.

“When you just watch it, it just looks like all of a sudden your plant is dying.  But it is a disease in the plant that’ll cause the leaves to curl up and the plant will die from that.”

Even though there’s been an increase in diseases and fungi this year, Shannon doesn’t anticipate it greatly affecting yield outcomes.