Willie Kirk
Plant Pathology

Recent weather conditions have been favorable for Fusarium head blight (FHB), or scab. The FHB models have been predicting low risk, and this may well be true but where local, persistent and heavy rain has occurred, growers may be advised to apply an appropriate fungicide immediately. In southern Illinois, FHB has been reported to have dramatically increased in wheat. According to reports from Illinois, FHB will probably be common throughout wheat growing areas within the next one to two weeks. Fusarium head blight bleaches part or all of the wheat head, and infected kernels are small and shriveled sometimes with an orange-pink mold at the base of glumes or on the glumes and kernels.

In addition, powdery mildew has been reported as very high levels in the upper canopy in some wheat crops in mid-Michigan, even in fungicide protected crops. The current list of fungicides with efficacy ratings can be found at: www.ipm.msu.edu/pdf/fungicideEfficacyWheat09.pdf