Bob Mulrooney, Extension Plant Pathologist; bobmul@udel.edu
The dry weather and low humidity has been very unfavorable for diseases at the present time. There are still some fields of barley with powdery mildew and leaf rust. If they needed treatments they should have been treated by now. Wheat is looking a bit better in that powdery mildew levels are low and except for some barley yellow dwarf mosaic virus in some areas the crop looks good. Rainfall is desperately needed. The risk for Fusarium head blight or scab is low at the present time. To keep track of the threat of scab be sure to check the website http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/.