Disease in Wheat: Treatments for Consideration
Goss' Bacterial Wilt and Blight
Top Hat is Your Local Seed Center
Disease in Wheat: Treatments for Consideration
Driving around in the country this fall during harvest something came to my attention, there seems to be more wheat planted. Growers are utilizing crop rotation, but with this practice we need to be prepared for more responsibility. In the last couple of years we have seen the importance of plant health in all rotational crops. With high input costs it is important to have the highest yield potential as possible.
Wheat is very susceptible to a variety of fungus and some are more damaging than others. We have to account for all of them and be prepared to take action if any attack the crop. I would like to explain some of the fungus diseases to you and the importance of timely treatment. The major funguses in this region that we should be familiar with include Leaf and Strip Rust, Powdery Mildew, Septoria Leaf Blotch, and Tan Spot.
Tan spot is predominately found in dryland wheat-fallow-wheat or ecofallow systems. All fungus can be found in wheat production, but irrigated acres have the highest infection rating because conditions are more favorable. Weather plays an important part in the process, humid damp conditions with warmer temperatures will heighten the risk of infection on the flag leaf.
It is imperative that we protect the flag leaf to ensure proper head filling of the plant. Timing of application begins at one half exposure of the flag leaf and can continue up to heading. If trace amounts of fungus are present on the flag leaf, with infection below the flag leaf moderate to severe, there is an increased risk of further infection. In this situation, applying a fungicide would be a good preventative measure.
There are many different fungicide treatments to choose from. Headline, Quadris, Quilt, Stratego, Tilt, PropiMax, Manzatte, Dithane, Penncozal are a few chemicals to choose from for wheat. Headline, Quadris and Stratego provide the longest residual, the others listed above provide more knock down and a shorter residual of a couple of days verses a few weeks.
Top Hat has been a leader in promoting crop health; we want our producers to be efficient and profitable. To make sure that your upcoming wheat crop will be at the top potential, contact Top Hat for any chemical information that you may need.
Nick Jacobitz
We are pleased to welcome Mike Nelson to our team at the Imperial office! He is ready to serve area growers with over twelve years of chemical and fertilizer experience.
Mike makes his home near Enders with his wife Linda, who works at the Chase County Community Hospital. He enjoys hunting, golfing, and team roping.
Mike is excited to visit with you about the upcoming year to help you make informed chemical and fertilizer decisions.
We invite you
to call or stop in
the Imperial office so Mike can get acquainted with you and your operations
needs.
Goss' Bacterial Wilt and Blight
Goss’ Wilt is a bacterial disease which is becoming more common in western Nebraska. Producers need to be aware of the symptoms so they can manage infected fields and not sacrifice profits to this disease.
A variety of symptoms are produced within corn. Streaks of water soaked tissue develops parallel to the veins. They are yellow to grayish green and wavy with irregular margins. Stripes may be reddish on some hybrids and may be confused with Stewarts Wilt. The most common characteristic of this disease is leaf freckling which develops into streak lesions. These plants are commonly stunted with leaf blight or may simply show signs of drought stress. Plants systemically infected have a dry or water soaked brown rot in the lower stalk and roots. The vascular system is discolored and an orange bacteria is present. These plants will wilt and die.
Plants can become infected at any stage of development. Infection occurs directly through the tissue or wounds caused by sandblasting, hail, wind or heavy rains. Leaves, stems, and roots serve as infection sites.
The Goss’ Wilt bacteria over winters in plant residue. Survival is most efficient when residue remains on soil surface. Goss Wilt will not survive on residue buried at a depth of eight inches. This practice is not practical in a conservation tillage or no-till operation. Planting resistant varieties or rotation to a non-host crop such as soybeans, dry beans is a more viable option in most situations.
Mike Nelson.
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