In the northern counties, wheat is at heading stage with early maturing varieties approaching flowering. In the South, wheat is approaching flowering with the early maturing varieties at the flowering stage. In the eastern part of the state, wheat is at the heading stage. Currently FHB risk is predicted to be low in the state. With more showers over this weekend and late next week, FHB risk might increase. Keep checking the weather forecast and monitor FHB risk at wheatscab@psu.edu.

The recommended stage for application of fungicides on wheat is at flowering (50% of the main tillers showing yellow anthers) or within 4-7 days of that. The fungicides effective for FHB are Prosaro/ Caramba/ Miravis-Ace. The fungicide products should be applied at the full rate recommended by the manufacturers. Strobilurin containing fungicides should not be applied after flag leaf stage as they increase the risk of DON (vomitoxin) accumulation. Aerial application at a rate of 5 gallons per acre or ground application at 15 gallons per acre with 300-350 um droplet size is recommended. Spray nozzles should be angled at 30°- 45° down from horizontal, toward the grain heads, using forward- and backward mounted nozzles or nozzles with a two directional spray, such as Twinjet nozzles.

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