New Corn Disease to Keep and Eye Out For

Welcome to the Outstanding in the Field podcast. It is the second week of October 2026. My name is Doug Gucker, an Extension commercial ag educator in East Central Illinois. I will discuss harvest progress, a new corn disease, estimated 2025 USDA ARC PLC payments, and reducing tillage to reduce operating costs and improve profitability. Corn harvest has progressed rapidly over the last three weeks with harvested acres nearing 50% mark.

Corn yields are good, but generally below last year's yields. Corn moisture moisture is low requiring little to no drying for storage. Soybean harvest is more than 75% complete with good to excellent yields being reported. Soybean harvest moisture is very low. A new corn leaf spot disease in the Midwest popped up this year in Michigan and other areas.

The disease resembles Phaeosphaeria leaf spot or maize white spot. However, researchers at Cornell, Penn State, and Michigan State Universities have been unable to isolate the causal disease organism in their preliminary testings. If you have noticed white spot leaf lesions on your 2026 corn crop, contact your local U of I Extension office. Recently, the USDA reported the expected 2025 ARCPLC program county payment levels for corn, soybeans, and wheat. County payments vary widely across East Central Illinois.

For corn, it varies from a $101 per acre for Cumberland County to $34 per acre in Ford and Iroquois Counties. For the 2025, ARC PLC County soybean payments vary from $81 per acre in Shelby County to $8 in Ford and Iroquois Counties. With our current high fuel price environment, state Extension specialists are encouraging farmers to evaluate their tillage programs and the number and types of tillage they perform. A recent Iowa State University Extension publication stated, tillage has long been viewed as a standard fall practice. Current fuel prices provide a strong reason to question whether the benefits of each pass justify expense.

The $2.60 per gallon increase in diesel prices since last year alone has added a $4.40 cost to heavy tillage such as disc ripping or v ripping. The University of Illinois research shows no benefit to heavy tillage on soybean stubble, And a recent ten year study found that more than two tillage passes after harvest and before planting reduced per acre profits. With harvest here, remember to take short breaks to clear and refresh your mind. Eat those healthy snacks during those long harvest days, and try to get a good night's sleep. And as always, remember, it is profit per acre, not yield per acre that keeps you in the farming business.