Agronomy

Corn tar spot is a new disease causing significant yield loss in the United States. The lack of information about the pathogen and epidemiology of the disease — which was first reported in the U.S. in 2015 and has since spread to multiple states, including Minnesota in 2019 — has made it difficult to diagnose and treat properly.

A new tool developed by a University of Minnesota research team allows farmers to create a budget balance sheet of any nitrogen reduction plans and see the economic and environmental cost, return and margins, all customized to fields under their management.

Researchers hope to make the new test technology commercially available to agronomic professionals across the United States by the end of 2021.