Foliar fungicide application effects on whole plant BMR and floury corn varieties, and whole plant corn silage composition

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the effects of foliar fungicide (FUN; Headline AMP; BASF Corp., applied at vegetative tassel growth stage) and ensiling time (0, 30, 90, 150 d) on fiber composition of 2 corn varieties (brown midrib; BMR and floury; FLY). Treatments were assigned to 16 3.38-ha plots in a completely randomized split-plot block design. Treatments were: BMR without FUN, FLY without FUN, BMR with FUN, and FLY with FUN. Samples of whole corn plants were collected and separated into leaves, stalks, flag leaf (FL), and cobs. Fresh-cut, whole-plant corn silage (WPCS) samples were collected at harvest and sealed inside mini silos for the duration of their respective ensiling times. Statistical analysis was performed using the MIXED procedure in SAS (v9.4). Brown midrib corn plants had a greater number of green leaves than FLY with 11.81 and 11.34\u202f±\u202f0.09 leaves, respectively (P\u202f=\u202f 0.001). Corn plants in control (BMR without FUN and FLY without FUN; CON) had a greater number of yellow leaves than FUN corn plants with 0.28 and 0.08\u202f±\u202f0.02, respectively (P