4 Reasons to Apply Fungicide to Soybeans

July 16, 2020

Fungicide applications are obviously the key to protecting your crop against things like leaf blight, brown leaf spot, and, anthracnose to name a few, but the benefits go far beyond that. We’ve put together our top 4 reasons to work fungicide applications into your yearly farm plan.

1. Boost Yields – Timely fungicide applications help you protect your crop’s yield potential and your input investment. According to 2017 AnswerPlot® research from WinField® United, 82% of soybean trial locations showed a positive response to a fungicide treatment. The average yield response was more than 2 bushels per acre.​
2. Protect Plant Health – Having to deal with diseases in your bean crop seems almost inevitable. While a fungicide may not cure your plants’ disease, it can certainly help minimize the effects. Drought and heat stress can also hinder plant performance. After all, you need healthy, green plant matter for optimum photosynthesis activity to take place. Consider a fungicide for preventative action. It may be your most reasonable form of insurance!
3. Plays Well with Others to Save You Money – Fungicides can easily be mixed with insecticides, as well as micronutrient products. If your NutriSolutions® tissue sample reports are showing less than adequate nutrition levels, keep in mind that Max-In® for Beans is an effective, foliar-applied nutritional product that is compatible with most crop protection products. Save on application costs by combining products into one tank mix.   
4. Preserves Harvestability – Disease and insect damage have a tendency to weaken stalks, leaving your plants more vulnerable to things like lodging and green snap. Choose a fungicide with good residual control to keep your plants standing until harvest. Beans sure are hard to harvest when they’re lying down, so make sure you’re doing what you can in-season to avoid leaving bushels on the ground. Literally.

Not sure which fungicide works for you? Give your Mid-West Fertilizer agronomist a call today to discuss which option best fits your management goals!