The new Crop Disease Forecasting tool on the Crop Protection Network, powered by the National Predictive Modeling Tool Initiative, provides weather-based forecasting and risk assessments for various crop diseases, helping farmers, crop advisors and agricultural researchers to make date-driven decisions. This free resource forecasts the risk of key foliar diseases by feeding local weather data into the validated models.

Currently, this tool has risk models for tar spot and gray leaf spot in corn, while models for white mold and frogeye leaf spot have been deployed for soybeans.

Key benefits and features:

• Risk levels are updated daily based on recent weather conditions
• The tool provides a seven-day forecast to assist in planning ahead of incoming weather events
• This tool covers multiple major above-ground diseases affecting corn and soybeans, making it a versatile resource for integrated disease management
• Accessible through the Crop Protection Network website, this tool is designed for easy use, with clear instructions for entering field data and interpreting results

For more information and a video about how to use the Crop Disease Forecasting Tool, click here.