| Every year, the Crop Protection Network compiles disease loss reports for major row crops. The organization works with various groups to estimate the impact of major diseases on production based on data pulled from a wide range of sources, including statewide disease surveys, feedback from university Extension, industry, and farmer representatives, and specialized experience with disease losses. The estimates are for both U.S. states and some Canadian provinces, depending on the crop. Below are some of the major takeaways from CPN’s disease loss reports for Corn and Soybeans in 2024: Corn Disease Loss Estimates from the U.S. and Ontario, Canada: Plant pathologists representing 29 corn-producing U.S. states and Ontario, Canada, estimated the percent yield losses from corn disease for each participating state or province. These reports account for approximately 15.1 billion bushels, representing 99.2% of the total corn produced in the United States and Ontario in 2024. The full report is HERE. The United States produced 14.9 billion bushels of corn in 2024, and Ontario produced 0.4 billion bushels. Disease reduced corn yield by an estimated -6.0% across the U. S. and by -3.7% in Ontario, resulting in a total estimated loss of 963.4 million bushels. Overall reported percent losses in 2024 were greater than losses reported in the previous two seasons (2022 and 2023), but less than the average loss of -8.4% observed between 2012 and 2023. The diseases that resulted in the greatest yield losses were the corn foliar diseases tar spot, southern rust, and northern corn leaf blight, in descending order. Stalk rot and ear rot caused by multiple species of Fusarium were the next greatest causes of estimated yield losses. In the northern U.S., (Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) tar spot caused the greatest estimated yield reduction in 2024 — with 280 million bushels lost — followed by foliar diseases and diseases caused by Fusarium, which included southern rust, northern corn leaf blight, Fusarium stalk rot, and Fusarium ear rot, in descending order. Losses in southern U.S. states (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) due to corn diseases were low in 2024 and below the 12-year average (2012-2023). Although tar spot was estimated to have caused the greatest yield losses in the southern U.S. states, significant yield losses from tar spot were only reported in Missouri and, to a much lesser extent, in Virginia. Estimated losses in the other leaf and aboveground diseases category consisted of corn stunt across three states (Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas).The top yield-reducing diseases in Ontario, in 2024 were tar spot, northern corn leaf blight, and nematodes. |
Soybean Disease Loss Estimates – Extension, university, USDA plant pathologists, and/or soybean specialists from major soybean-producing areas in the United States and Ontario, Canada provided the estimates. These reports accounted for 99.9 percent of the total soybean production in the United States and 100 percent of production from Ontario in 2024. The full report is HERE. The United States produced nearly 4.4 billion bushels of soybean in 2024, which is 233.6 million bushels greater than the average of the previous five years. Ontario, Canada, produced 160.0 million bushels in 2024. In all, an estimated 5.4 percent (250.9 million bushels) of the potential soybean production in 2024 was lost due to disease in the 29 soybean-producing U.S. states, and 5.7 percent (9.6 million bushels) of the total soybean production in 2024 were estimated to be lost due to disease in Ontario, Canada. The 2024 estimated losses from soybean disease in the U.S. are the fifth lowest observed out of 29 years of available data, with only 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023 being lower. In Ontario, 2024 yield losses were nearly the same as in 2023 but were approximately 2.3 million bushels less than the average of the previous five years. The northern states in the U.S., which include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Wisconsin, accounted for 76.4% of the total estimated U.S. yield losses in 2024. A trend of reduced estimated losses due to soybean diseases continued in 2024, with an estimated 191.6 million bushels lost vs. an average of 348 million bushels from 1996 through 2018. Dry conditions in certain soybean production areas in 2024, and in the previous four years, likely resulted in less disease loss than typically observed in the northern region. There were no foliar diseases among the top yield-reducing diseases in 2024 for the northern region. Similar to what was observed in the previous two years, soybean cyst nematode and root-knot nematode caused the most estimated yield losses in 2024 in the southernmost U.S., which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Soybean cyst nematode, sudden death syndrome, and Sclerotinia stem rot caused the greatest estimated yield loss in Ontario, Canada, in 2024. |
