Small Grains Disease Updates

Alyssa Koehler, Extension Field Crops Pathologist; akoehler@udel.edu

Symptoms of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) have started to show up in barley and will soon become visible in wheat (Fig. 1). So far, I have observed very low levels of symptoms in barley. The season started at low risk and remained low through most of the window for barley flowering. The rains set in at the start of wheat flowering and moved us to medium-high risk for 2-3 weeks, but we are returning to lower risk in the model (Fig. 2). Tips for scouting for FHB were shared last week. Over the next week to 10 days, wheat symptoms should be at peak visibility to walk fields and assess the level of FHB present.

Figure 1: Barley head with symptoms of FHB (left)Wheat head with bleaching and orange sporulation due to Fusarium Head Blight (right)

Figure 1: Barley head with symptoms of FHB (Top). Wheat head with bleaching and orange sporulation due to Fusarium Head Blight (Bottom)

Figure 2: FHB Risk Model for May 18, 2023 (wheatscab.psu.edu)

Figure 2: FHB Risk Model for May 18, 2023 (wheatscab.psu.edu)