Hot, dry conditions last spring resulted in almost no Fusarium
Head Blight (FHB) occurring in Kentucky’s wheat crop. It is anyone’s guess how severe FHB will be
this year, but the time will soon be upon us to decide if spraying a fungicide
for FHB (and deoxynivalenol [DON] in grain) is necessary. As a result, I just wanted to bring your
attention to the recently revamped FHB Prediction Center and Risk Assessment
Tool webpage (http://www.wheatscab.psu.edu/). Both the appearance of the webpage and its functionality have been
substantially improved.
Additionally, a mobile version of
the tool is available. The site should automatically go to the mobile version
if you try to access it from a smart phone or other mobile device.
The purpose of the Assessment Tool is to provide growers and
consultants with a FHB risk assessment leading up to and including the
all-important time of early flowering (anthesis). This is the time when
fungicides targeting FHB/DON must be applied in order to be effective. The
Prediction Center also includes extensive and helpful information on how to use
the tool (including several important limitations), as well as information on
the disease prediction models used.
I have found the tool to be very useful and mostly
accurate. It is important to note that the
tool does not address events after
anthesis that impact FHB and DON during grain development. The developers of
the tool specifically chose to exclude this period because fungicides applied after
anthesis will not control either FHB or DON. In other words, the FHB Assessment Tool is to
be used as a fungicide decision aid and not a final outcome predictive tool.
If you are interested in signing up for text and/or email
alerts for specific states and/or regions of the country, go to http://www.scabusa.org/fhb_alert.php
and sign up.
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