Welcome to the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center, 2020. The system has undergone revisions for this year and it may help to familiarize yourself with the interface. The new interface provides a map-based estimate of disease risk for the current date. Users can select other dates of interest from the menu in the upper left portion of the interface. The date selected should correspond to times when your wheat is at or nearflowering, because the crop is most susceptible to infection at this growth 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 resistance to Fusarium head blight. The megaphone icon in the upper right activates this commentary display window. The selecting the colored buttons along the top of the commentary window displays state-specific commentary.

The focus of the prediction effort is currently on North Dakota, Northern Minnesota, where later planted spring wheat may still be at the heading and flowering stages of growth. The models indicate a moderate or high level of risk for susceptible wheat varieties in portions of North Dakota and western Minnesota. Growers in these areas should consult with local advisors to determine what other local factors that might also influence the risk of disease.

--Erick DeWolf, Extension Plant Pathologist, 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