News

Scab funding eliminated

“Devastating,” is the word Dave Van Sanford, co-chair of the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative uses to describe what the elimination of funding for the scab initiative in the President’s fiscal 2014 budget will have on the program that’s been around since the late 1990s.

“During the period of its existence the initiative has been able to knit together a broad based coalition of researchers who are dedicated to developing solutions to the problems that are caused by Fusarium Head Blight in wheat and barley,” said Van Sanford.

Van Sanford says one of the casualties, without these funds would be the elimination of the warning systems that provide scab alerts to growers.

“To make sure they are set and ready to go with fungicides if warranted, if the crop is at the appropriate stage and so on, and so that would go away.”

As would four laboratories that analyze nearly 63,000 wheat and barley samples for mycotoxin content annually.

Audio: Dave Van Sanford. Co-Chair, U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (5:15 mp3)