Most areas of Central and Southern PA have flowering wheat, or wheat that is about to flower. Scab infection risk is growing across the state for all resistance classes of wheat. If your wheat in these areas is heading and approaching flowering, stay alert and consider a fungicide application. Caramba, Prosaro and Miravis Ace give good control of most leaf and head diseases, in addition to suppressing scab. Spray nozzles should be angled at 30° down from horizontal, toward the grain heads, using forward- and backward mounted nozzles or nozzles with a two directional spray, such as Twinjet nozzles. If weather conditions prevent fungicide application at early flowering, an application as soon as conditions allow will still be quite effective in reducing scab and DON production. Follow labels to determine post-harvest interval constraints for the fungicide you choose.

Continue to visit wheatscab.psu.edu to use the Fusarium Head Blight Prediction Center for estimating your crop’s scab risk.

--Alyssa A. Collins, Associate Professor, Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, The Pennsylvania State University