Corn ear rots and kernel molds are present every year, but the degree and type of infestation is highly weather dependent. Proper identification of ear rots can help determine grain handling risks, and help develop a plan to limit the impact to other grain.
Stalk rots are common in every field to some extent every year. Identifying the specific type of stalk rot is easier during early stages of development, but becomes more difficult late in the season when multiple stalk rots become established in the same plant. Regardless of which stalk rot pathogen causes the primary infection, the end result is the same: yield loss due to lodging or premature plant death.