Annual/Termination Reports:

[05/23/2007] [03/05/2008]

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Participants

Brief Summary of Minutes

Summary of minutes

NCDC 214 Committee  Management of Corn Diseases
Annual Meeting, December 6, 2006
Hyatt Regency Hotel, Chicago, IL
West Tower - Crystal Ballroom A


The meeting was called to order at 9 AM. From 9 AM until 2 PM the meeting agenda consisted of presentations from public and private sector researchers on projects related to corn diseases and their management.

1 Reducing the risk of mycotoxins through corn genetics Dr. Keith Campbell, Corn States Hybrids
2 Analysis of quantitative resistance to foliar pathogens of maize Dr. Peter Balint-Kurti, USDA-ARS, North Carolina State University
3 Pathogen-vector systems affecting the production of seed in Puerto Ricos winter nurseries Dr. Scott Heuchelin, Pioneer Hi-Bred Int., Inc.
4 Corn nematode populations in Nebraska Dr. Tamra Jackson, Univ. of Nebraska
5 Real-time PCR diagnostic assay development for multiple maize pathogens Dr. Charlie Block, USDA-ARS NC Plant Introduction Station
6 Corn disease issues in Ontario Dr. Albert Tenuta, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, & rural Affairs

From 2 PM until 3:30 the group discussed plans for Development Committee activities over the next two years.

1. Membership  only a few land-grant university representatives attended the Chicago meeting. NCDC214 was established only a matter of days before the meeting, so there may have been limited opportunity for potential state representatives to plan for attendance. Plant pathology departments have been notified of the establishment of the committee and department heads were solicited for the names of state representatives. As of 8 Mar 2007, only 4 formal state representatives are entered in the National Information Management and Support System (NIMSS) system. A new effort will be needed to record participant names in the system.

2. Committee justification  the group discussed the trends in corn production, corn disease research, and research funding in relation to potential goals of the committee. It was recognized that corn production trends are likely to result in higher levels of disease loss during the next 5-10 years, requiring intensified research efforts. This situation is in conflict with trends toward reduction in personnel assigned to corn disease research within ARS and land-grant universities, and the relative lack of funding availability for corn pathology research compared to other agronomic crops. The group proposed to develop a white paper document describing current and near-term corn pathology needs, which may serve as a partial basis for a NCC or NCERA proposal/justification. This effort will be led by Carl Bradley (Univ. of IL), Tamra Jackson (Univ. of NE) and Gary Munkvold (IA State Univ.).

3. Committee governance  the consensus of the group was to elect a chair and co-chair to serve through Dec 2007. Gary Munkvold (IA State Univ.) was nominated and elected as chair; Tamra Jackson (Univ. of NE) was nominated and elected as co-chair. Any further committee policies on governance will be included in proposal documents to be submitted at a later date.

4. Development committee objectives  several scenarios were discussed in relation to formalizing the status of the committee after the NCDC term expires. The group pointed out that proposing a new NCC committee involves both advantages (potentially stronger land-grant university participation) and disadvantages (potentially weaker industry participation; documentation requirements; and a perceived lack of support at the administrative level for a corn disease research committee). Another possibility discussed was to form a subcommittee under the auspices of the ASTA. This scenario would likely lead to participation and meeting format similar to the 2006 meeting. A third scenario involves organizing the group informally along the lines of the Southern Soybean Disease Workers committee (http://cipm.ncsu.edu/ent/SSDW/ ), which recently held its 34th annual meeting. All three scenarios were discussed and remain as viable options. Subsequent discussions with ASTA committee members suggest that a subcommittee under the ASTA Phytosanitary Committee would likely be the most feasible approach under ASTA.

5. Future meetings  the group agreed to meet on 5 Dec 2007 in the same location. It was also proposed to arrange a meeting during early summer 2007 at a university location (e.g., Ames) in order to plan for committee proposal development. No final plan was made for this meeting.

6. Attendees  a list of attendees of the 2006 meeting is attached. The list may not be complete.

Accomplishments

Publications

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

1. Robert Brown
2. Eric Tedford
3. Scott Heuchelin
4. Doug Jardine jardine@ksu.edu
5. Alison Robertson alisonr@iastate.edu
6. Carlos Rodriguez crod@iastate.edu
7. Federico Basso federico@basso-__.com (sp?)
8. David Fisher dave.fisher@seminis.com
9. Paul Richter paul.richter@genmills.com
10. Rita Kuznia rita.kuznia@syngenta.com
11. Michele Gardiner Michele.gardiner@syngenta.com
12. Carl Bradley carbrad@uiuc.edu
13. Paul Esker pde@plantpath.wisc.edu
14. Pierce Paul
15. Arv Grkybauskus arvydav@umd.edu (sp?)
16. Kraig Roozeboom kraig@ksu.edu
17. Emerson Nafziger ednaf@uiuc.edu
18. Peter Thomison thomison.1@osu.edu
19. Scott Monfort smonfort@uaex.edu
20. Tamra Jackson tjackson3@unl.edu
21. Albert Tenuta albert.tenuta@ontario.ca
22. Jim Perkins jim.perkins@monsanto.com
23. Gary Bergstrom gcb3@cornell.edu
24. Don Hershman dherschma@uky.edu
25. Ron Hines rhines@growmark.com
26. Travis Frey travis.james.frey@monsanto.com
27. Scott Walker scott.l.walker@monsanto.com
28. Jim Uphaus jim.uphaus@agreliantgenetics.com
29. Lisa Shepherd
30. Charlie Block
31. Dave Kendra david.kendra@ars.usda.gov
32. Snook Pataky
33. Steve Sanborn
34. Dean Malvick
35. Jim Hawk

Brief Summary of Minutes

The meeting was convened at 9:00 am by committee chair Gary Munkvold (IA) and was followed by self-introductions and presentations.

1 Pythium and Fusarium spp. associated with corn and soybean seedling disease and response to seed treatment fungicides Pierce Paul, THE Ohio State University
2 Pathology of fungicide seed treatments on corn Carlos Rodriguez, graduate student, Iowa State University
3 Developing maize germplasm with resistance to aflatoxin contamination Robert Brown, USDA-ARS Southern Research Center
4 Corn foliar fungicide regional results Carl Bradley, Univ. of IL
5 Quilt fungicide  Controlling corn diseases and enhancing plant performance Eric Tedford, Syngenta Crop Protection
6 Occurrence and proposed cause of hollow husk in corn in 2007 Fred Below, University of IL
7 Stalk rot impacts of foliar fungicides Ron Hines, Growmark

DISCUSSION

1. Approximately 35 participants attended the sessions including representatives from universities, USDA, and industry. A list of participants is attached.

2. Committee status  Development status lasts 2 years and requires submission of a proposal by September 2008 to maintain official committee status. Discussion followed about the advantages and disadvantages of maintaining official CSREES committee status. Three options were discussed:
a. CSREES committee  Maintaining official committee status would require a proposal and annual submission of committee documentation. There would be no benefit to the participants representing private industry so their participation may decrease and only a few current meeting attendees from Land Grant Universities would be provided funding to attend the meetings. Representatives from Land Grant Universities may increase.
b. ASTA subcommittee  there is currently no disease committee and the closest match is for the group to develop a subcommittee under the Phytosanitary Committee. Designation as a subcommittee would likely require ASTA membership status.
c. Independent status - Similar to the Southern Soybean Disease Workers (SSDW) and the Mid-South Association of Wheat Scientists. ASTA would likely still allow the group to meet in conjunction with their annual meeting in Chicago.

Accomplishments

The group decided not to continue its pursuit of official CSREES status and to instead maintain itself as an independent committee using the activities of SSDW as a model. Tamra Jackson agreed to gather information on the history of SSDW. The group agreed to continue to meet in association with ASTA. The development of basic governance documents was recommended by current chair Gary Munkvold. <br /> <br /> Election of a new Vice Chair  Carl Bradley (IL) nominated Paul Esker (WI) and the group voted unanimously to elect Paul the next Vice Chair of group for 2008. Acting vice chair, Tamra Jackson (NE), will assume the role of chair in 2008. <br /> <br /> Gary Munkvold (IA) informed the group that we were solicited for speakers for the upcoming Interregional Corn Research Conference (February 26-27) in Baltimore, MD and Pierce Paul (OH), Paul Esker (WI), and Carl Bradley (IL) expressed interest in representing the group. Gary will provide a proposed speaker list for the meeting. <br /> <br /> Paul Esker (WI) and Carl Bradley (IL) submitted a joint IPM proposal focused on standardizing fungicide assessment methods on GLS in inoculated trials including<br /> <br /> a. Fungicide sensitivity, EC50 for fungicides<br /> b. Understanding on-farm trials<br /> c. Development of disease assessment guides<br /> <br /> Tamra Jackson (NE) proposed the idea to the group for the addition of a corn disease, especially southern rust, to the IPM PIPE for the following year. <br /> <br /> Tamra and Carl updated the group on the progress of the groups white paper on the impacts of increased corn production on disease, which they expect to be completed in 2008.<br /> <br /> Corn Extension agronomists attending the meeting this year requested to be included on the e-mail list.<br /> <br /> There was an extended discussion about the research and Extension needs related to the surge in foliar fungicide use on corn. The two main issues are: <br /> a. Need for standardization of fungicide evaluations, including disease ratings, fungicide rates, plant stage, hybrid resistance<br /> Arv Grybauskas (MD) agreed to propose standardization components in consultation w/ esker et al. (see item 5)<br /> b. Data analysis <br /> Paul Esker, Pierce Paul, and Carl Bradley agreed to work toward devising recommendations for the most meaningful approach to analysis of data from multiple-environment trials. This issue is closely related to the trial standardization issue, since the value of combined data analysis is affected by fungicide trial design. <br /> <br /> An idea to organize a corn fungicide symposium was discussed. Possibilities to add this to the agenda of the Interregional Corn Research Conference in Feb 2008, to add a session to the APS Annual meeting in Minneapolis in July-Aug 2008, or to organize a stand-alone meeting, were discussed. The group felt that the ICRC was too soon. The APS Special session schedule planning is already well under way, and it may be difficult to add a session there. There were no volunteers to organize a stand-alone meeting, and the group felt that it would be difficult to attract the appropriate audience due to all the competing conferences. This was not resolved, and the discussion will continue by e-mail. <br /> <br /> The groups next meeting will be Wednesday, December 10, 2008, in the same room at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, during the ASTA meeting. Meeting adjourned at 3:30.<br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. The group decided not to continue its pursuit of official CSREES project NC status and to instead maintain itself as an independent committee using the activities of SSDW as a model. Tamra Jackson agreed to gather information on the history of SSDW. The group agreed to continue to meet in association with ASTA. The development of basic governance documents was recommended by current chair Gary Munkvold.

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