Wheat disease updates are written by Dr. Bob Hunger, OSU Extension Plant Pathologist

Oklahoma: Reports of diseases in Oklahoma have been sparse (as expected for this time of year) but certainly more numerous than last year when drought curtailed foliar diseases.  Yesterday (10-Feb) I found wheat leaf rust at a low, but consistent level in guard strips of Jagalene planted around a large wheat breeder nursery here in Stillwater.  Susceptible-type pustules were on lower leaves at 15-25%.  As temperature increases and with moisture this rust will increase and spread.

Gary Strickland (Extension Educator – southwest Oklahoma) indicated to me that he had heard reports of some leaf rust in Tillman County and also has seen a few pustules here and there on wheat in Jackson County, but nothing severe.  He has seen no powdery mildew and no root rots to speak of.  He also indicated there were a lot of acres of “little wheat” with some looking good if moisture had been received but that the southwest OK was quickly drying out.

Symptoms of wheat soilborne mosaic/wheat spindle streak mosaic (SB/SS) have shown up in Dr. Edward’s variety demonstration as well as in my SB/SS evaluation nursery, but symptoms are not yet striking as the flush of spring growth has not yet started.

Wheat soilborne mosaic virus can cause yellowing in the spring in susceptible varieties such as the one on the left.

Reports/excerpts of reports from other states:

Louisiana; Dr. Stephen Harrison (Professor; Wheat & Oat Breeder, LSU AGCenter) 3-Feb-2015:  “Stripe rust has been reported in several commercial fields and nurseries around central and northeast Louisiana.”

Texas Dr. Amir Ibrahim (Prof, Small Grains Breeding and Genetics, Texas A&M AgriLife Research) 3-Feb-2015:  “Wheat stripe rust found in Texas Blacklands area:  On January 29th, Russell Sutton, Assistant Research Scientist with the Small Grains program at Texas A&M University and our anchor in the northern Blacklands area and northeast Texas, visited our research plots near Ennis Texas. Russell found a small hot spot of stripe rust on the susceptible variety ‘Patton’ that we use as a spreader. The spot was about three feet in diameter and the lower leaves where heavily infected. The wheat appears to have completed the tillering stage and ready to begin jointing.  Russell will return in two weeks and collect some spores and look for more infection sites.

Wheat disease updates are written by Dr. Bob Hunger, OSU Extension Plant Pathologist

Oklahoma:  We’ve not seen any diseases so far this fall around Stillwater, but we have been relatively dry and much of the wheat was not planted until the past couple of weeks.  Mark Gregory (Area Extn Agron Spclt – southwestern OK) indicated to me earlier this week that he has not seen or heard any reports of leaf rust or other diseases.  However, Bryan Vincent (Crop Scout – NW/NC Oklahoma) sent me some photos of leaf rust pustules he found in several fields around the Aline-Helena area (30-40 miles northwest of Enid in north-central OK).  The pustules were extremely sparse and found only in very early planted wheat.  Bryan also reported seeing some light tan spot infections.  Leaf rust also has been observed in Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska (see reports below), and stripe rust has been reported in Wyoming, Montana and the PNW.

Fall infestations of leaf rust generally do not warrant treatment. Monitor fields and consider a split fungicide application in the spring if heavy foliar disease is still present at Feekes GS 6 – 7 in early March

When leaf rust occurs in the fall in Oklahoma, the question arises regarding the value of spraying to control that rust.  Fall-infected leaf rust plants typically have yellowed lower/older leaves with rust pustules, but the youngest 2 or 3 leaves are green and healthy.  As temperature drops through November and December, the older rust-infected leaves die and new infections are greatly slowed and inhibited.  Grazing also helps to remove these leaves and increase air circulation and drying that are conditions less favorable to spread of the disease.  Given these considerations, spraying to control leaf rust in the fall is of limited value.  The primary concern with fall infections of leaf rust is that with a mild winter and sufficient moisture, the rust will survive through the winter and inoculum will be present in fields to start the disease early in the spring.  Hence, monitoring of these fields through the winter and early next spring is recommended to determine if a split application of a fungicide is merited to control the rust (and also possibly tan spot, septoria, and/or powdery mildew) in the early spring.

Reports/excerpts of reports from other states:

Kansas (Dr. Erick De Wolf, Extn Plant Pathologist, Kansas State University) 27-Oct-2014:  Wheat Leaf Rust Update in Kansas:  Planting of the winter wheat crop in Kansas is well underway. Farmers are reporting that wheat has emerged and is looking good in many areas of the state. Wheat planting on some farms was delayed by a late soybean harvest this fall, but these acres should be planted soon.

I was checking wheat this week in Manhattan (Northeast KS) and found leaf rust in some research plots.  This wheat was sown about 2-weeks prior to the optimal planting date but well within the normal planting range for wheat production in the state.  The leaf rust was not difficult to find with disease incidence near 5% some plots. The severity was 2 percent or less on most of the infected leaves. This level of fall infection of leaf rust is common in Kansas; however, 60% of the time cold temperatures and leaf desiccation during the winter months will eliminate the disease in many fields.

Ned Tisserat, retired plant pathologist from Colorado State University, also reported leaf rust in Northeast Colorado this past week. So it is possible that leaf rust is active in other areas of Kansas as well.  I will be checking other locations for leaf rust in Kansas this coming week and let the group now what I find.

Nebraska (Dr. Stephen Wegulo, Extn Plant Pathologist, Univ of Nebraska) 27-Oct-2014:  On Friday last week, Oct 24, I answered a call from a crop consultant who told me there is leaf rust in several wheat fields in the Panhandle of Nebraska.

Wheat disease updates are written by Dr. Bob Hunger, OSU Extension Plant Pathologist

Oklahoma:  Wheat around Stillwater is mostly at GS 10.5.1 (start of flowering) and is looking dry.  With temps forecast in the upper 90s for the next 3-4 days and no rain, conditions will continue to deteriorate.  Areas in other parts of the state are worse, with only a few areas better.

This past week I traveled from to southwestern OK stopping at numerous fields along the way as well as the variety trials or demonstrations at Kingfisher (60 miles southwest of Stillwater), Granite (southwestern corner of OK) and El Reno (20 miles west of OKC).  Typically wheat was at my knee height or shorter and thin.  I saw no foliar diseases, but did find several locations where I believe wheat streak mosaic and/or high plains disease was present.  Samples are being evaluated to confirm, but samples processed by the Diagnostic Lab this past week from the panhandle and from central OK would support this (i.e., positive for Wheat streak mosaic virus and/or High plains virus).  I also have noted symptoms of barley yellow dwarf in my trials around Stillwater, but no stunting is associated with these symptoms most likely indicating a spring infection.  I did have a report from Roger Musick in central Oklahoma that he found a high incidence of tan spot and light leaf rust in a no-till wheat field under pivot irrigation.  That is the only confirmed report of foliar disease I have received.

Reports/excerpts of reports from other states:

Mississippi  Dr. Tom Allen (Extn Plant Pathologist, Mississippi State University) 03-May-2014:  Wheat throughout MS ranges from flowering north of Highway 82 to wheat that has likely reached ripening stages south of I-20 (I haven’t seen as much of that wheat in more than 2 weeks).

Trace levels of wheat rust were observed in the Greenwood, MS area on Tuesday by a chemical distributor field rep.  I confirmed the observation by text photo.  In addition, I was able to find a few stripe rust infected leaves on the experiment station in Stoneville last Friday.  I haven’t made much about the stripe rust confirmation because the plants were volunteer plants under a rainout shelter.  I was shocked to see that most of the infected leaves had already formed telia as a result of the warmer temperatures.  At present, we have not confirmed stripe rust in either a commercial field, variety trial plot, or any other part of the state.

Quite frankly, this is one of the cleanest wheat crops I’ve observed.  Until the past week the only observable diseases were bacterial leaf streak throughout much of the state and Barley yellow dwarf virus.  I rated the variety trial south and west of Hattiesburg a few weeks ago and also observed a low level of scab at that location.  Some Septoria leaf blotch has been observed, tan spot in a few fields in eastern MS, and some glume blotch.  In addition, since we were so wet and cold throughout much of the winter, and the rain continued, field work has been way behind so we’re starting to get some calls regarding glyphosate drift as well as paraquat.

Arkansas (Dr. Jason Kelley (Assoc Prof; Wheat & Feed Grains; Univ of Arkansas) 02-May-2014:

This week I visited several wheat fields around the state and looked through the plots that I have at the Lon Mann Research Station at Marianna. Overall I would say the crop is later than it was last year, which seemed very late. Many fields in central Arkansas heading this week, fields in south Arkansas generally headed last week and by this time next week most fields in Northeast Arkansas will likely be fully headed. According to the Arkansas Agricultural Statistics Service report, for the week prior to April 28th only 17% of the crop had headed. This compares to 67% for the five year average and 32% last year.

Overall the crop looks okay, but I can tell the last few weeks of rain has taken a toll on it with yellow pockets of wheat from mud holes is more common than it should be. Foliar disease levels have been low with the exception of Septoria leaf blotch, which is common in most fields lower in the canopy, but has moved up the plant in the last week on more susceptible varieties. I found a small hot spot of stripe rust on Wednesday April 30th at my plots at Marianna. This was the first reported stripe rust in the state. At this point with most wheat headed, heading or will be headed by the end of next week, stripe rust will most likely not have enough time to get well established and be a big issue this year.