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Some wheat diseases starting to show up in Wisconsin

A University of Wisconsin plant pathologist says corn and beans look great, but he’s starting to see some signs of disease in wheat.

Dr. Damon Smith says, “We’re actually picking up some leaf rust, and I’m wondering if actually some of the tropical storm remnants might have pulled that up. I’m not sure.”

Smith tells Brownfield leaf rust isn’t the only problem scouts are finding in wheat fields. “We’re also seeing some septoria leaf blot, which is a pretty common foliar disease on wheat here in the state. It’s starting to move up the canopy. It’s pretty common in the lower part of the canopy right now and moving up, but a lot of fungicide applications went out over the last couple of weeks for fusarium head blight controls.”

Smith says he is expecting to see some fusarium head blight, but he’s hopeful it won’t be as bad as it has been over the last couple of growing seasons.

Smith tells Brownfield that so far, it’s been a boring year for studying crop diseases, which means it’s been a good year so far for farmers.

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