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Indiana wheat growers monitoring disease risk

A plant pathologist says wet weather across Indiana have created challenges for wheat growers trying to manage foliar disease pressure.

Darcy Telenko is with Purdue University Extension.

“We worry a lot about fusarium head blight or scab, and so that application needs to go out in a timely manner when we’re just beginning flowering ,” she says. “To get it out in southern Indiana, it was really hard. We’ve moved now into flowering more in central and northern Indiana and the good news is it looks like the risk has dropped back down to low.”

She tells Brownfield there hasn’t been significant disease pressure in Indiana, but there has been in parts of Kansas and Michigan.

“Growers really want to get a return on their investment if they’re going to add additional input to their cropping system,” she says. “There are some areas in the United States where the weather has been conducive for disease to develop. I would be thinking about if a fungicide is necessary and understand the susceptibility of your crop.”

Telenko says additional tools are available through the Crop Protection Network to help farmers make informed management decisions.

AUDIO: Darcy Telenko, Purdue University

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