Wheat School: How to manage late-arriving stripe rust

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Stripe rust is back again in Ontario wheat fields for the third consecutive year.

The leaf disease first showed up in the province in 2016, and earlier this week Agromart agronomist Nicole Bloetjes reported 2018’s first stripe rust sighting in a field near St. Marys.

Should wheat growers be concerned? What should you do? In this episode of the Wheat School, RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson notes that the disease has arrived later this year and this needs to be factored into your management plan. “We’re just seeing the first stripe rust as the crop is heading out. That’s a lot later than last year when it was first reported at the beginning of May,” says Johnson.

See Related: Stripe rust here to stay, but help is on the way

In this video, Johnson encourages growers to check their wheat variety disease ratings at www.gocereals.ca. “If it’s highly susceptible to stripe rust, you can’t take the risk. If you haven’t sprayed a fungicide, get one on,” says Johnson. “Protect it from stripe rust.”

Highly susceptible varieties like 25R46 were hit particularly hard last year when the disease showed up early, notes Johnson. “In the unsprayed performance trial at Ripley, 25R46 yielded only 28% of its yield – it lost 72% of its yield.”

Johnson adds that growers may be able to get away without spraying fungicide on less susceptible varieties, but spraying will provide protection.

Click here for more Wheat School episodes.

 

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Wheat School (view all)Season 9 (2018) Episode 21
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