I really don't know but I would be inclined to pull it all up, chop and bag the plants and 'smut' into plastic.
What a shame, it looked like a nice ear of corn and a marvelous photograph.
Might be there's a forum on corn or corn disease/fungus here or directed through Google.
Sad for you, nothing's fresher than back yard corn.

Forget what I posted.

Go look it up on Google. Corn smut sells for more that corn. Google sites say it has beneficial proteins and it is
routinely eaten in Mexico and other countries.
Don't pull up the plants. Read the news on 'corn smut'.

Corn Smut shows up in my garden every year. It's never on every ear, maybe one out of ten. I don't know at what stage you harvest it so I haven't tasted it but hear it taste just like mushrooms. I've been told that it isn't harbored in the soil, its in the corn seed or transmitted by insects going from infected plants to non-infected plants.

Amazing it can be eaten huh?
I wonder at what stage it could be harvested too, I am not so sure I would be brave enough to eat it LOL. But I had read a awhile ago all about it an how it is eaten and yes more valuable then the corn, weird isn't it?

:) Aqua

If it's edible and beneficial and worth more than the food plant it grows on
SOMEBODY NEEDS TO GIVE IT A BETTER NAME!!!!!!!

Remember...Canola used to be Rapeseed.

Wow Dottie, I did not know Canola was called rapeseed I do remember rapeseed oil now that you mentioned it but did not know they changed it to Canola...
Corn Smut is a horrible name for something that is edible but LOOK at it would you really want to eat it?
I BET John has read about HOW you prepare it to eat....lol.

:) Aqua

When I've seen it at restaurants in Mexico it looked like purply bean soup but I hear that most people put it with scrambled eggs.

I've read peoples comments online saying it doesn't taste all that special so its never been at the top of my list to sample.

SEE I KNEW you would know John! lol....

I still say YUCK, and double yuck to 'purply bean soup' I MIGHT would consider eating it in scrambled eggs but I don't know, I am not big on scrambled eggs either and I might not be able to lol.

:) Aqua

Rapeseed was/is a huge crop in Canada..now you know where the first three letters of Canola came from.

Had not checked this in a few days, wow, Dottie you sure is one smart lady!

:) Aqua

I'm thinkin' that ,like Asia, countries south of our border little is wasted and if it doesn't sicken the eater then it is edible and thrown in the pot.