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| A few of my observations from NW Wisconsin for what they are worth:
1. Most corn belt hybrids are not screened for southern rust. Some really late varieties for the south are. We are in unchartered waters this year.
2. We used a drone this year and it definitely helped the rust compared to an untreated and unknown test strip I stumbled across. Huge difference. At 2 GPA I doubt any lower leaves are covered but the important upper leaves are. Not sure if the lower leaves being infected matters but I think a ground rig would be better. A lot of people think fungicide is like Roundup and every fungus should be killed or prevented after being treated with one shot. There are pictures from May in Indiana of 10" corn with Tar Spot everywhere. The Purdue agronomists were not concerned about it and did not advise spraying fungicide until later.
3. There are no ground rigs here. The co-op put a lift kit on a Deere and will only do flat land. We have hills. Steep ones at that.
4. Many drone outfits are operated by techno-nerds that know nothing about farming. That is ok but it is worth remembering. The guy we got farms and had an interest in radio controlled aircraft as a kid. We feel we are fortunate to have him. There is nothing carefree about operating a drone. He told me many stories including getting his license by flying a simulator with a bunch of jerks operating it. They searched him and his glasses for hidden cameras. He was so nervous he failed the first time. He said there were fighter pilots in flight suits waiting in line to get certified.
5. One of the reasons operators stay away from field edges is liability. A guy on a motorcycle and his wife stopped on the road to watch the drone and got an application by our field.
6. The usual recommendation to spray right after silk is good advice but will give absolutely no protection if tar spot or rust hits a few weeks later. With disease present the very best fungicides (Vetyma etc) require treatment every 14 days. Ouch!
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Disease pressure difference in Hybrids.
