Today is the first discovery of southern corn rust in Georgia, in Clinch Co. along the Florida-Georgia line.
This is the find we have been hunting for, waiting for- when will southern corn rust find its way back into Georgia? 21 June 2023 is about two weeks later than we typically find it. Pam Knox our climate and weather specialist thinks it may have something to do with the direction of our prevailing winds in late spring and early summer, it may also have to do with cooler temperatures. Midway, hunting for southern rust and not finding it allowed growers to delay fungicide applications by at least two weeks, if they so chose. Two weeks also allowed a corn crop to inch closer to the “hard dough” stage where southern rust becomes much less important. Two weeks because of your efforts with sentinel plots.
NOW THAT we know southern rust is near Marianna, FL and in Clinch Co, all corn growers in Georgia’s southern tier of counties should pay close attention. “The weather is here , the crop is at the right stage, and we know where the pathogen is. Be prepared.