Fusarium Head Blight Update

With wheat harvest in full swing, initial reports concerning Fusarium levels gives producers and the industry reason to be "cautiously optimistic"according to Garnet Snobelen with the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) in Chatham. The majority of wheat has been of good quality (grades #1 and #2) but a few as expected have been downgraded due to the disease. In terms of DON levels, the CGC has processed a very small number of samples but to date DON levels have been in the <0.5ppm DON which is the lowest category.

Although these very preliminary reports are good news we must all remain vigilante and be aware of potential "hot spots" this year as in every year. Fields with visual Fusarium need to be given priority at harvest and with the frequent and unpredictable rains/storms a delay could result in further secondary infection or DON accumulation.

The University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus along with OMAFRA is collecting samples from fields throughout the province where no fungicide was used. This information will be used to determine disease and DON levels plus provide further validating information necessary for the DONcast model which is the property of Weather INnovations Incorporated (WIN) in Chatham. A sufficient number of samples have been collected from Essex and Chatham-Kent counties but we still require other fields from across the province If you would like to participate in the survey, please phone the OMAFRA office in Ridgetown at 519-674-1690 or fax field location/contact information to 519-674-1564 (c/o Michael Jay). Remember, to be included in the survey, fields must not have had a fungicide applied to them.

Thanks!