Researcher Art Schaafsma explains that they are developing
a set of tools which will help the industry deal with
the various mycotoxins produced by fusarium fungi. Mycotoxin problems arise if there is warm, rainy weather
just after silking. The more rain days around silking, the
greater the risk, explains Schaafsma. By the end of August,
he has a pretty good idea of where the problem areas will
be. If corn is clean then, a lot of rain in the fall is much less
likely to cause a problem to develop, he says. However, if the
fungi have started growing by August, a wet fall will make it worse “A forecast would give you a ‘heads-up’”, says Schaafsma, enabling producers to make informed decisions about which fields to keep and which fields to sell. A similar forecasting tool is already available to wheat growers, who have not raised the same resistance to its use. With corn, “it is very difficult to get support for this,” says Schaafsma. The scientist also recommends
that growers choose BT varieties because increased
insect pressure opens the grain to fungal infection.