04/19/07 Stripe rust alert

Farm and Ranch April 19, 2007 In a stripe rust alert issued this week, Xianming Chen with the Agricultural Research Service in Pullman reports that wheat stripe rust is developing in the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington. Chen says stripe rust was found in almost every checked field Tuesday with rust severity ranging from two to 10 percent. He says given good soil moisture and favorable weather conditions, stripe rust should develop rapidly from now on in that hard red winter wheat area. Chen says growers in the Horse Heaven Hills should check their fields more closely because major hard red winter wheat cultivars are moderately to highly susceptible to stripe rust. He says producers should consider using fungicides when rust severity reaches 10 to 15 percent and while that is higher than the normal threshold Chen says a little bit delayed application could protect more of the late stages of the wheat. However the ARS scientist says don't wait too long. Chen says no rust was found in the Walla Walla area this week but as the disease continues to develop in the Horse Heaven Hills region, he says growers in the Walla Walla area should start checking their fields, especially those with cultivars that were susceptible in the past. Growers in other regions should start checking their winter wheat fields in two to three weeks. Chen notes that spring wheat may be more vulnerable to stripe rust because many cultivars are susceptible to the disease. Elsewhere around the U.S. Chen says stripe rust is light in California due to drought conditions and it has been reported in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas but again is generally light due to combinations of dry weather and recent freezes. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.