Wisconsin Winter Wheat Disease Update – May 8

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The Wisconsin Field Crops Pathology lab scouted winter wheat from near the Southern Wisconsin state line (Janesville, WI) up to Arlington, WI (south central Wisconsin) yesterday. Wheat in this southern and south-central region in jointing or beginning to joint (depending on variety). Wheat generally looks very good with minimal issues at this stage. Variety trials also are looking good, with all varieties looking relatively clean. No stripe rust has been identified in these locations yet. However, we will be keeping close tabs on this given the severity levels of stripe rust in states to our south.

At the Arlington location we did find Septoria leaf blotch on early season tillers of the variety ‘Kaskaskia’. This was at very low incidence and severity levels and I would classify it as spotty at this point. However, weather conditions are forecast to be cool and rainy for the coming week, so this may result in an increase in severity. We will continue to monitor this situation and continue scouting wheat further north in the coming weeks.
Growers and consultants are encouraged to continue to scout, scout, and scout!