05/23/05 Critical time for stripe rust control

Farm and Ranch May 23, 2005 Wheat stripe rust is almost everywhere in the Pacific Northwest and barley stripe rust has started showing up in eastern Washington. That's the word from Xianming Chen with the Agricultural Research Service at Pullman. He says recent wet and cool weather conditions have been ideal for stripe rust infection and the chance of warmer weather this week could mean a rust explosion in many spring wheat fields and some winter wheat fields. Chen says varieties susceptible to the rust last year will be susceptible this year, like the winter wheats Hatton, Buchanan, Columbia 1, Western Plant Breeders 470 and Moreland and the spring wheats Zak, Edwall, Calorwa, Scarlet and Macon. He also says that varieties previously rated moderately resistant or moderately susceptible, which may not need a fungicide spray in a normal year, should be watched closely and a fungicide applied if necessary. That's what Whitman County Washington grower Dave Harlow is having to do with a soft white winter wheat. Harlow: "Unfortunately this year we are seeing some new races of rust come in on winter wheat in our area. Specifically I have Cashup. And it is the first year we have ever noticed it and in sufficient quantities to spray, but we are spraying every acre we have." In addition to the highly susceptible varieties, Chen is suggesting spraying of the winter wheats Finley, Brundage 96, Boundary, Tubbs, and Edwin and the spring varieties Alpowa, Express, Wawawai, Penewawa and Eden. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.