Tar spot continues to show up in more and more fields around the Corn Belt.
Nick Frederking is an agronomist for AgriGold and is based in Illinois. “Early research indicates that tar spot does overwinter on residue,” he says. “So if farmers are seeing tar spot in their fields in 2022, first we want to talk about applications to control it and prevent the spread.”
But, he says, growers also need to make notes for the upcoming growing season. “With that knowledge that the disease is here and probably here to stay, and any neighboring fields are probably subject to some level of tar spot infection because of the disease cycle we understand today,” he says.
Tar Spot is endemic in places like Central and South America and parts of Mexico. It was first identified in the US in 2015 and has continued to spread.
Tar spot has been mostly detected in the Midwest with confirmed cases over the years in Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Kentucky.