Thanatephorus cucumeris

"Rhizoctonia" can be found across all areas of the United States (environmental conditions permitting) where its host crops are located. The severity of infection can vary and for highly infected patches, severity of the infection can be very devastating to the farmer. Some of these consequences are major yield losses (ranging from 25%-100%), increased soil tare (because the soil sticks to the fungus' mycelium), and poor industrial quality of the crops based on increased levels of sodium, potassium, and nitrogen. Due to the number of hosts that the pathogen attacks, these consequences are numerous and detrimental to a variety of crops.
Sheath blight caused by this pathogen is the second-most devastating disease after rice blast.