Wheat Disease Management

Wheat Scab is a disease that can contaminate wheat with mycotoxins.  Dr. Carl Bradley discussed identification  and control last week at Brownstown.  Scab can be worse in fields where wheat follows corn.  We seemed to have lots of that last year because corn harvest was so early.  Bradley says it is almost impossible to eliminate scab completely, but planting resistant varieties can help.  Fungicides may be needed as well in order to keep mycotoxins at an acceptable level.  Fungicide should be applied at early flowering (Feekes 10.5.1).   Prosario and Caramba are fungicides that can help suppress scab when applied at the right growth stage and rate.  Strobilurins can actually aggravate the problem.  South Dakota State University has a good bulletin on Fungicides for Wheat.

My observation is that with such a narrow window for effective results, this may be one of the things that a producer should be prepared to apply himself.  Another consideration is that different varieties may bloom at different times so if the producer is trying for protection with diversified genetics, it could take several days to apply the fungicide.  Pennsylvania State University has a forecasting system that may be useful in determining risk of scab.