Paper

Heather Darby ¹, Hillary Emick ¹, Kellie Damann ¹
1. University of Vermont, Department of Agriculture, Environment, and Landscape
Corresponding Author: Heather Darby, heather.darby@uvm.edu

Darby, Heather

heather.darby@uvm.edu

Public interest in sourcing local foods has extended into beverages leading to a rapid expansion of the northeast malting industry. This has provided farmers with new market opportunities and many of these markets are interested in purchasing certified organic barley. However, all farmers are struggling to produce barley that is not infected with FHB and DON. In Vermont during 2025 we observed the disease and yield impact of inoculation with Fusarium graminearum, and treatment with ChampION a copper-based organic fungicide at two timings on a susceptible (var Robust) and moderately susceptible (var ND Genesis) variety of barley. The ChampION fungicide was applied at heading and at heading followed by a second application 4 days after heading. Varieties differed in their DON concentrations with ND Genesis having significantly lower DON concentrations compared to Robust. All fungicide treatments and timings, including the control and the Fusarium inoculated plots, had DON concentrations below the 1 ppm threshold recommended by the FDA. The highest DON concentration was in the ChampION treatment (applied at heading) at 0.660 ppm and was only significantly higher compared to the control. Overall, the organic treatments did not reduce DON concentrations compared to the control; however, the application of organic fungicides at heading plus 4 days after heading provided some control over just one application at heading.

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