With the recent showers in the state, the risk of Fusarium Head Blight has increased slightly. However, the low temperatures have prevented the risk from being too high presently. Wheat is anywhere from heading to flowering to the end of flowering in the state right now. If you have planted an FHB-resistant variety, you should be okay to skip the fungicide sprays currently. Growers who planted susceptible wheat with their wheat flowering or are within a window of 4-5 days of flowering are advised to spray head scab fungicides: Prosaro/ Prosaro-Pro/ Miravis-Ace/ Sphaerex. These fungicides do not need to be tank mixed with another product for spraying and should be applied at the full rate recommended by the manufacturers. Strobilurin-containing fungicides should not be sprayed at this stage. With more rain coming, keep an eye on the FHB risk if your wheat is not flowering yet.

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