Wheat disease updates in Illinois

Nathan Kleczewski

May 6, 2020

Recommended citation format: Kleczewski, N.. "Wheat disease updates in Illinois." Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 6, 2020. Permalink

Wheat development in most in Southern Illinois fields is between Feekes growth stage (FGS) 9-10.5.1. Wheat in the central portion of the stage varies from FGS 6-9.

Stripe rust was detected in Eastern Madison County as of 5.5.20, and conditions are favorable for disease development and spread. This is a cool season disease that loves wet weather and temperatures in the high 40’s through the mid 60’s. Fields should be scouted for the disease, keeping in mind that it often starts in small pockets, or epicenters in a field, and may not be widespread.

Remember that products for head blight suppression also work on stripe rust (example for a late-arriving epidemic below). If disease arrives prior to heading on a susceptible variety, you may need to consider

Example of fungicide effects on a wheat variety susceptible to stripe rust. Different letters within a column indicate significant treatment differences using Tukey’s HSD (0.05). In this trial conducted at the Wye, MD, stripe rust signs and symptoms began at the start of heading, and cool wet weather persisted well past flowering. From Kleczewski, 2017.

Wet weather is elevating the Fusarium head blight (FHB) risk for highly susceptible , flowering wheat. Cool temperatures in the forecast may reduce FHB risk for flowering wheat in many areas. For an update on Fusarium head blight click here.

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