Corn Yield Loss Estimates Due to Diseases in the United States and Ontario, Canada, from 2016 to 2019

Abstract

Annual reductions in corn (Zea mays L.) yield caused by diseases were estimated by university Extension-affiliated plant pathologists in 26 corn-producing states in the United States and in Ontario, Canada, from 2016 through 2019. Estimated loss from each disease varied greatly by state or province and year. Gray leaf spot (caused by Cercospora zeae-maydis Tehon & E.Y. Daniels) caused the greatest estimated yield loss in parts of the northern United States and Ontario in all years except 2019, and Fusarium stalk rot (caused by Fusarium spp.) also greatly reduced yield. Tar spot (caused by Phyllachora maydis Maubl.), a relatively new disease in the United States, was estimated to cause substantial yield loss in 2018 and 2019 in several northern states. Gray leaf spot and southern rust (caused by Puccinia polysora Underw.) caused the most estimated yield losses in the southern United States. Unfavorable wet and delayed harvest conditions in 2018 resulted in an estimated 2.5 billion bushels (63.5 million metric tons) of grain contaminated with mycotoxins. The estimated mean economic loss due to reduced yield caused by corn diseases in the United States and Ontario from 2016 to 2019 was US$55.90 per acre (US$138.13 per hectare). Results from this survey provide scientists, corn breeders, government agencies, and educators with data to help inform and prioritize research, policy, and educational efforts in corn pathology and disease management.

Co-Occurrence of 35 Mycotoxins: A Seven-Year Survey of Corn Grain and Corn Silage in the United States

“…Mueller at al. [ 50 ] reported that weather in the United States in 2018 was characterized by unfavorably wet conditions and delayed harvest which resulted in an estimated 2.5 billion bushels of corn grain contaminated with mycotoxins. Our survey showed frequent mycotoxin contamination of grain and silage in 2018, although 2018 was not necessarily the year with highest mean levels of contamination.…”

Global warming and increasing maize cultivation demand comprehensive efforts in disease and insect resistance breeding in north‐western Europe

“…For example, Lobell et al (2011) reported that recent climate change between 1980 and 2008 has already reduced the potential global maize production by about 3.8%, thereby countervailing some of the yield gains from breeding and other technological advances. In addition, maize is increasingly challenged by plant pathogens (Mueller et al, 2020), insect pests (De Groote et al, 2020), and other biotic and abiotic stress factors such as heat and drought (Cairns et al, 2012).…”

Phenomic Data-Facilitated Rust and Senescence Prediction in Maize Using Machine Learning Algorithms

“…Since its emergence in Western Africa in 1949, where it caused yield losses of ~50% 5 , southern rust epiphytotics were responsible for ~80% yield loss in the Philippines 6 , ~45-50% yield loss in the Mississippi Valley in the early 1970s 7 , and ~40-50% yield loss in China in the late 1990s 8 . In contrast, today Southern rust infections infrequently reach economic threshold losses in Texas to justify fungicide treatment 9 because of non-conducive weather. Plant breeders face several challenges in combating southern rust, from expert scores being subject to rater variability 10 , signi cant time commitments required for pathologists to score large elds, to selecting for multiracial pathogen resistant germplasm in which general (horizontal) resistance, often found in tropical germplasm, is favored 11 .…”