When is the best time to apply fungicides and insecticides to your soybeans?
“Within the industry, a lot of people just target R3,” says Purdue Extension Soybean Specialist Shaun Casteel. “So, that’s going to be first pod development. That’s where you have a pod that 3/16 of an inch long or longer in the upper four nodes. And a lot of people in a plan program that’s just a turnkey. That’s what they do.”
Casteel tells us on the latest Purdue Crop Chat podcast, found now at hoosieragtoday.com, that he doesn’t agree with that approach, especially this year with the early drought conditions we’ve seen.
“If we’re going to do fungicide application, insecticide application, I’m actually more R4. So, a little bit later in the growing season for this application in any given year.”
Casteel encourages growers to 1) Scout and make sure that fungicide or insecticide is needed, and 2) If it is needed, let the plant develop a bit more to get the most benefit.
“I talked to a few ag retailers about a week ago and they said, ‘Hey, it’s getting to be R3.’ I said, ‘Just tap the brakes a little bit. I don’t think we need to do this yet.’ But yet people are like, ‘Well, I can cover a lot of ground before this rain that’s forecasted comes in so I can have it sprayed.’ Yeah, you can, but are you going to get the benefit out of it? And so, I think that’s a big push that I come back with is if you want benefit out of it, and you think about the ultimate good, let’s tap the brakes.”
Casteel is joined by Purdue Extension Corn Specialist Dan Quinn on the Purdue Crop Chat. Find it below or download it wherever you listen to podcasts.
