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Small grains specialist concerned about disease pressure
An extension small grains specialist is concerned about disease pressure.
Jochum Wiersma with the University of Minnesota says tan spot set in during the cooler part of June.
“It is kind of our canary in the coal mine, and it showed up in the winter wheat about two weeks ago. Up to that point conditions probably had been ideal for tan spot.”
He tells Brownfield the risk of Fusarium Head Blight has waned with recent heat, but grain farmers still need to be on the lookout for it.
“The thing with Fusarium Head Blight is that the markets are very unforgiving for the presence of the toxin because it’s a food safety issue, and you want to get prices that are currently attainable because of the commodity prices being high.”
Wiersma says there are steep discounts when the presence of Fusarium Head Blight is detected.
He says there have also been reports of scab in barley that should be monitored.
