Welcome to the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, 2020. The system has undergone some major revisions this year and it may help to take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the new tools. The new interface focuses attention on the map-based risk of disease for the current date. The calendar icon at the top of the interface allows users to select dates of interest. The date you select should correspond to times when your wheat is flowering, because the crop is most susceptible to infection at this stage. There is also a menu icon in the upper left corner that allows users to customize the model predictions for winter vs. spring wheat, and account for wheat varieties with different levels of genetic susceptibility to Fusarium head blight.

The focus of the prediction effort is currently on Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northern Indiana, Northern Ohio and Central Pennsylvania where wheat is already at the heading and flowering stages of growth. The models indicate a moderate or high level of risk for wheat varieties in portions of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Growers in these areas should consult with local advisors to determine other local factors that might also influence the risk of disease.

--Erick De Wolf, Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas 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