Southern rust, a potentially devastating disease of corn, has been reported from several counties in North Carolina. At this time, southern rust has NOT been reported in Virginia. Samples of corn plants suspected to be infected with southern rust should be submitted to your local extension office or the disease clinic at the Virginia Tech Tidewater AREC (contact Dr. Hillary Mehl, hlmehl@vt.edu). Signs of the disease are pustules filled with powdery masses of orange spores (see attached photo). Typically the disease has little impact on Virginia corn since it arrives too late in the season to affect yield, but if southern rust is confirmed in Virginia prior to corn reaching the dent stage (R5), fungicide applications may be warranted. Updates will be provided as more information is obtained. Additional information: southern-rust-on-corn-jpg