Scout for Stripe Rust in Wheat in Idaho

A message from University of Idaho's Cereal Plant Pathologist, Juliet Marshall:

I found stripe rust in two fields in south east Idaho today. The first location was south of Aberdeen in a field of commercial wheat (Brundage).

The second location between American Falls and Pocatello was in a field of volunteer wheat (also Brundage) where stripe rust was found in November, 2015.

I highly recommend that anyone with a field of Brundage examine it closely for stripe rust, looking especially at lower leaves that could have been infected last fall. Snow cover protects wheat from freezing temperatures as well as the stripe rust. Fields that have been under snow will serve as good reservoirs for stripe rust to carry into our spring wheat.

All susceptible varieties should be scouted weekly from now on.

Please report infected fields (the approximate location) to Juliet Marshall (jmarshall@uidaho.edu) so I can keep alerts updated as the season progresses. This helps everyone!

Strobilurin fungicides are excellent preventative fungicides, as are triazoles. Triazoles (or triazole and strobilurin mixes) are more effective if there is a field with established infections. The attached table is (not a complete) list of fungicides put together by a group of pathologists belonging to the NCERA-184, with ratings for degree of control of several wheat diseases.