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Updated: October 23, 2024

An Overview of Drones in Agriculture (FS-2024-0705)

Drones, or UAVs, require a mix of hardware and software to operate and are controlled by ground stations. They offer numerous benefits in agriculture, such as precise crop monitoring, efficient resource management, and data collection. Challenges include high costs, certification requirements, and data interpretation. Key applications include crop scouting, spraying, seeding, yield estimation, and disease assessment. Despite challenges, ongoing research aims to maximize benefits and minimize limitations, promising a significant impact on agriculture. Authors: Hemendra Kumar and Ananth Sriram; Title: An Overview of Drones in Agriculture (FS-2024-0705).
Updated: October 23, 2024

Summary of the Comparative Efficacy of Common Active Ingredients in Organic Insecticides Against Difficult to Control Insect Pests

There exists a lack of control efficacy information to enable decision-making about which organic insecticide product works best for a given insect pest. Here we summarize results of 153 field trials on the control efficacy of common active ingredients in organic insecticides against groups of the most difficult to control insect pests. The performance of organic products Entrust (spinosad), Azera (pyrethrin and azadirachtin), PyGanic (pyrethrin) and Neemix (azadirachtin) varied widely among pest groups, as well as among pest species within a group, providing an overall reduction in pest infestations by 73.9%, 61.7%, 48.6% and 46.1%, respectively.
Updated: October 23, 2024

August IPM Insect Scouting Tips

August IPM insect scouting tips on soybean, field corn, and sorghum.
Figure 1. Spider mites on underside of soybean leaf viewed through 10x hand lens.
Updated: October 22, 2024

Be On Lookout for Tar Spot: A New Disease of Corn

Before anyone panics, this disease has not been confirmed in Maryland; however, it is close by and could potentially spread to our state. As you’re scouting fields this summer, keep this one in the back of your mind. Tar spot is a fungal disease of corn caused by Phyllachora maydis. It was first discovered in the United States in 2015. In Latin America where tar spot is more common, another fungal species, Monographella maydis, is known to occur in complex with P. maydis; however, only P. maydis has been found in the United States.
Figure 2. Tar spot symptoms on a corn leaf. Image Credit: A. Collins, Penn State
Updated: October 22, 2024

Tar Spot of Corn Confirmed in Maryland

Tar spot, a foliar disease of corn caused by the fungal pathogen, Phyllachora maydis, was reported and confirmed for the first time in Maryland. County PA in 2020 and has since spread to several neighboring counties. It was first detected in the United States in Illinois and Indiana in 2015 and has rapidly spread throughout the Corn Belt. The sample collected from a Harford County farm on August 19 is the first confirmed case in Maryland.
Figure 1. Signs and symptoms of tar spot on corn. Black raised areas are tar spot and long rectangular grey lesions are from grey leaf spot.
Updated: October 22, 2024

Scout for Tar Spot in Corn

Tar spot in corn, Tar spot is a foliar disease of corn caused by the fungus Phyllachora maydis. This disease has the potential to significantly impact yield.
Tar spot on corn leaf
Updated: October 22, 2024

2023 Maryland Tar Spot of Corn Research

Tar spot is a new foliar fungal disease of corn first discovered in the United States in 2015 and confirmed in Maryland in 2022 and was estimated to be the most significant yield-limiting disease of corn in the US in 2021 and 2022. As a new disease for our state, this project collected preliminary data on the distribution of tar spot in our state and compared the efficacy of different fungicide application timings.
Map displaying confirmed distribution of tar spot.
Updated: October 22, 2024

Thoughts on Tar Spot Management

Tar spot is a disease of corn caused by the fungus Phyllachora maydis.
Tar spot on corn leaf
Updated: October 22, 2024

Agronomy News-June 2024

Agronomy Newsletter -June 2024, Volume 15, Issue 3. Topics include: State Court of Appeals Overturns Circuit Court’s Right-to-Farm Decision, Thoughts on Tar Spot Management, Scouting for Fusarium Head Blight, Paraquat Training Opportunities, June IPM Insect Scouting Tips, UMD Faculty Member Partners Nationally to Release Highly Anticipated Decision Aid Tool to Produce Maximum Crop Yield, New Forage Enterprise Budgets, Fungicide Efficacy Tables for Corn and Soybean, Weather Outlook, and Maryland Regional Crop Reports.
Agronomy News June cover
Updated: October 22, 2024

Agronomy News-May 2021

Agronomy News is a statewide newsletter for farmers, consultants, researchers, and educators interested in grain and row crop forage production systems. The topics for this edition are
Agronomy News Header May 2021 Issue