The purpose of Tarspotter is to assist farmers in making management decisions for tar spot in corn. The best time to manage tar spot is during V10 to R3 growth stage. Tar spot fungal spores which infect corn, leading to the development of tar spot. University research has indicated that the appearance of Tar spot fungus can be predicted using several variables including weather. Based on this research, models have been developed to forecast the risk of Tar spot fungus being present in a corn field. Farmers can easily input site-specific information about their corn field into this app, which combines this information with the research-based models to predict the best timing for tar spot scouting or treatment.
Tarspotter uses GPS coordinates to determine if weather has been favorable for the development of Tar spot fungus during corn flowering in a specific field. Models in the app use real-time weather to predict favorable conditions for most corn growing regions. Based on these predictions and crop phenology, a site-specific risk prediction is generated.