I hope that you all are staying safe and are vaccinated by now. Wheat season of 2021 is on and we will be providing the FHB risk assessment commentaries regularly to the small grain community throughout the wheat and barley flowering season of 2021. This is the first update in the series.

Hopefully, you selected a resistant wheat variety for your planting this year after referring to the University of Maryland’s FHB evaluation of wheat varieties. A good start goes a long way in managing FHB.

Wheat in the Eastern shore of Maryland is either at jointing to heading stage and should start flowering within a week or so. Barley, however, is already heading or will be soon heading in this part of the state. It is important to note that the correct stage for spraying fungicides on wheat is at flowering (when the yellow anthers start to show on the heads), whereas on barley it is at heading (when the heads emerge from the boots). Even with some intermittent showers, the FHB risk is currently predicted to be low across the state. However, with the rain forecast for this week, the risk may soon escalate. The right fungicides for FHB are Prosaro, Miravis-Ace or Caramba at the right stage of the crop. Fungicides containing strobilurin should not be applied for control of FHB, as in multiple university research trials, strobilurin fungicides have been shown to increase DON levels in grain. On the western side of the shore in Frederick, Harford and nearby counties, wheat plants are st arting to joint, and are not at a stage prone for FHB.

--Nidhi Rawat, Small grains Pathologist, University of Maryland

Barley is now heading across the southern tier of Pennsylvania. Keep a watchful eye on your crop, and if you plan to spray for head scab, target a fungicide application when 50% of the barley stems in the field are fully headed. Caramba, Prosaro and Miravis Ace give good control of most leaf and head diseases, in addition to suppressing scab. Spray nozzles should be angled at 30° down from horizontal, toward the grain heads, using forward- and backward mounted nozzles or nozzles with a two directional spray, such as Twinjet nozzles.

Continue to visit wheatscab.psu.edu to use the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center for estimating your crop’s scab risk.

--Director, Southeast Agricultural Research & Extension Center Associate Professor, Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology

As disease pressure continues to build across PA, be sure to watch your crop carefully for flowering to time your fungicide applications. Continue to visit wheatscab.psu.edu to use the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, as your fields begin to flower. For more details on spraying for scab, visit https://extension.psu.edu/fusarium-head-scab-update

Alyssa Collins, Extension Plant Pathologist, Penn State University

For more details, go to the FHB Risk assessment tool at http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu

For the latest news and updates from the U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative, go to http://www.scabusa.org

With PA wheat now emerging from the head, many fields are on the verge of spray decisions as we see anthers popping out. Most of the state is in the “Low” risk category for Fusarium head blight infection at this time. If you choose to spray, target your wheat crop at early flowering. Caramba, Prosaro and Miravis Ace give good control of most leaf and head diseases, in addition to suppressing scab. Spray nozzles should be angled at 30° down from horizontal, toward the grain heads, using forward- and backward mounted nozzles or nozzles with a two directional spray, such as Twinjet nozzles. Continue to visit wheatscab.psu.edu to use the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, as your fields begin to flower.

--Alyssa Collins, Extension Field Crops Pathologist, Penn State University

For more details, go to the FHB Risk assessment tool at http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu

For the latest news and updates from the U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative, go to https://www.scabusa.org