More commonly, fungal growth occurs in ears during the milk, dough, and dent stages. The infection causes less damage if the ear is more developed when the fungus grows outward from the cob. Stenocarpella ear rot can affect yield of harvested grain if infection occurs early enough to trim kernel and ear size. Severely affected ears can have test weight losses as high as 35 percent. Feeding and milling qualities of the grain may also be affected.
Rotation deprives the fungus of a food base and causes it to starve.
No crop in Kentucky other than corn is susceptible to S. maydis , so any crop represents a suitable alternative for managing Stenocarpella ear rot. Any rotation away from corn, even for one year, helps to reduce buildup of inoculum and allows infested corn residues to begin to decompose. In fields with moderate to high levels of Stenocarpella -infested residues, rotations of two to three years may be required to reduce inoculum to acceptable levels. Recognize that repeatedly sowing a rotation crop to control Stenocarpella ear rot may create a different set of pest and disease problems. For example, if soybeans are sown for several years to reduce inoculum levels of S. maydis , growers should monitor the preplant population of soybean cyst nematode every year.