Four Simple Steps to Stop Seedling Disease Before it Starts

It lives just beneath your feet, in every acre of every farm. And it’s waiting for the right moment to strike. I’m talking about one of the more elusive, yet avoidable challenges farmers face this time of year: seedling disease. It’s a formidable adversary for corn and soy, because by the time you notice some stunting here or stand loss there, it’s already too late to take action. That’s why it pays to get ahead, because the best way to beat seedling disease is to not get it in the first place. 

A Not So Singular Challenge

So what exactly is seedling disease? Well for starters, it’s actually more than one disease. Rather than a single-cause-single-effect paradigm, seedling disease is a broad term used to describe a whole slew of soilborne pathogens and their many impacts on crops during early stages of growth. Much of the danger of seedling disease is that it can be difficult to recognize — or even notice — before it becomes a problem. That’s because seedling disease attacks plants by the roots, leading to wilting, stunting and standloss later in the season. While the impact can be difficult to quantify, it can cost you anywhere between $30–$50 per acre depending on crop prices — not to mention all the time, resources and energy you put into your fields.

You may not always see it, but seedling disease is a prevalent threat. In fact, many pathogens associated with seedling disease (e.g. pythium, fusarium, rhizoctonia, etc.) are virtually always active in your soil — even in years when you don’t experience any issues. No plot of land is free of disease. The trick is to not activate it. And to do that, we need to understand how and why seedling disease can emerge. 

Putting it All Together

To really get a handle on seedling disease, it helps to revisit the basics of plant pathology. Like any disease, there are three things necessary for an outbreak to occur: 

As you can see, it’s never a simple one-case situation in the field. There are always 2–3 things that add up together to give that negative result. That’s why it’s vital to understand the many risk factors that can lead to seedling disease. After all, if you don’t know your fields’ vulnerabilities, you’re less able to protect them. 

A Little Bit of Prevention Goes a Long Way

Seedling disease is something all farmers encounter sooner or later. Addressing it is a matter of staying a step ahead, and you can use FieldView™ to help you by scouting and mapping historic disease pressures. Prevention is imperative, because there’s no real rescue treatment for seedling disease.

There are several common factors you can control to prevent seedling disease from taking hold. And that’s where FieldView can make an incredible difference. 

How To Prevent Seedling Disease

Planting is a busy time for any farmer, but you can’t learn from your data unless you collect it. That’s why it’s important to scout fields regularly. To help ensure they don’t miss any  data, many farmers set alarms to revisit their fields two weeks after they plant. They check the root mass, then reset the timer and harness more insights again two weeks later. With this information, it’s easier to make important decisions for next year, which is really when you’ll reap greater rewards through insights that will help you avoid seedling disease. Granted, there’s no instant gratification, but the benefits of preempting seedling disease become more tangible year after year.