'Wheat in the Eastern Shore and the Southern part of the state is flowering (yellow anthers showing up on the heads) currently. Hopefully, you did not select a highly susceptible variety to begin with, as the FHB risk is increasing for such varieties. Growers with highly susceptible wheat varieties planted and having their wheat flowering, are advised to spray head scab fungicides (Prosaro/ Caramba/ Miravis-Ace). However, if you planted an FHB resistant variety, the head scab risk is predicted low currently. Powdery mildew is being observed across several fields this year, depending upon the planted variety. If you see high levels of powdery mildew on flag leaves and heads do not spray strobilurin containing fungicides, instead opt for FHB fungicides, as these control all fungal diseases. In the Northern counties, we are still around 7-10 days away from flowering.

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