Alyssa Koehler, Extension Field Crops Pathologist;
Last week we introduced that the Fusarium Risk Assessment Tool is live for the 2022 season. There have been a few updates to the system since last year, so I wanted to take a moment to introduce the changes. When you enter the tool, you will see the risk based on the current date. There is a calendar icon that allows you to look back in time by selecting a different day of interest. You can also now set the forecast period for current (0), 2, 4, or 6 days from the time you are looking. Currently most of the state and country are at low risk. High humidity, heavy dew, rain, and night temperatures above 50°F favor FHB infection. A menu icon in the upper left corner allows users to customize model predictions to account for using wheat varieties with different levels of genetic susceptibility to Fusarium head blight (Figure 1). In the top right corner you will see a microphone that when clicked on will show national and regional commentary from state extension pathologists (Figure 2).
Figure 1. Fusarium Risk Tool model on April 7, 2022. The menu in the upper left corner allows for customization of genetic susceptibility to FHB. http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/
Figure 2. Clicking on the microphone icon in the upper right corner will bring up commentary for different regions of the US. You can click on the whole US map to see all commentary, or on the Mid-Atlantic US icon to see commentary from our region as it is added over the coming weeks.