CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (RFD NEWS) — Every farm and every field brings its own set of challenges, and this growing season is putting that to the test as growers across parts of the Corn Belt deal with excessive moisture and increasing disease pressure.
For more than 30 years, Dyna-Gro has worked with growers to develop seed solutions tailored to individual field conditions.
Dyna-Gro area manager for the Corn Belt East, Steven Eichenberger, joined us on Monday’s Market Day Report to discuss crop conditions heading toward harvest, disease concerns and the company’s efforts to better understand how individual hybrids respond to nutrients.
In his interview with RFD News, Eichenberger said growers across Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri are seeing significant differences in moisture conditions this year. In Cedar Falls, Iowa, rainfall is currently about nine inches above the 10-year average, he said.
That excess moisture is also contributing to increased leaf wetness, which can create favorable conditions for foliar diseases.
Eichenberger said Dyna-Gro’s atmospheric science and weather data show the highest number of leaf-wetness hours on record for the locations being monitored since tracking began in 2026.
Disease Pressure Builds
The combination of moisture and extended leaf wetness has increased the risk of disease, particularly across corn fields.
Eichenberger said southern rust has continued to expand its footprint across Iowa and Missouri, while tar spot remains another significant concern for growers. He also expects foliar disease pressure to increase as the season progresses.
Excess moisture is also raising concerns about stalk and crown rots, which can create standability problems and increase the risk of losses before harvest.
Eichenberger said growers should monitor stalk integrity and standability closely and consider prioritizing fields for earlier harvest if conditions warrant.
Hybrids Face New Challenges
Eichenberger said the challenges facing growers have changed considerably over the past decade, requiring seed companies to continually reevaluate hybrid performance.
Tar spot, for example, has become a major issue across Iowa and Illinois and parts of Missouri, while southern rust has become a more significant concern in recent years.
Dyna-Gro is working to develop more hybrid-specific recommendations, Eichenberger said, with the goal of helping growers maximize the potential of each individual hybrid while managing emerging disease and agronomic challenges.
The company is also evaluating issues such as crown rot and other diseases that can affect yield and standability.
Digging Deeper Into Nutrient Efficiency
One of Dyna-Gro’s major initiatives this growing season has focused on tissue sampling and understanding how different hybrids utilize nutrients.
Eichenberger said the seed industry has traditionally provided growers with information such as stalk strength, green snap and disease ratings. The company is now looking deeper into how individual hybrids differ in their ability to take up and accumulate nutrients.
Potassium is one example, with hybrids showing significant differences in how much of the nutrient they can absorb and retain in the plant.
The goal is to determine whether individual hybrids require different nutritional management strategies.
“If we can understand how each unique hybrid accumulates nutrients,” Eichenberger said, “we can start to make some of those recommendations and really help a grower achieve maximum yield potential.”
That research could ultimately allow growers to make more targeted fertility decisions based on the specific hybrid planted in a field rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.
As harvest approaches, Eichenberger said moisture, disease development, stalk integrity and hybrid-specific management will remain key factors for growers to monitor.
For Dyna-Gro, the ongoing work focuses on leveraging field-level data and hybrid research to help growers navigate increasingly complex growing conditions and make decisions that protect yield potential and farm profitability.
LEARN MORE: www.dynagroseed.com
