With bacterial top rot, the upper leaves become gray to brown with shortened internodes. The outside of the stalk may be brown to black and water-soaked. The leaf tissue within the whorl and the growing point of the stem within the whorl are brown, wet, slimy, and have a foul odor that smells like silage. Control See recommendations under control of stalk rots . No other control measures are known, and usually are not warranted.
Some hybrids are less susceptible then others.