Researchers have found the stripe rust fungus in research fields on the Palouse, and encourage farmers to apply fungicide if they’ve planted or plan to plant susceptible to moderately susceptible winter and spring wheat varieties.

Stripe rust has not been found in commercial fields yet, USDA research plant geneticist Xianming Chen told the Capital Press.

In an industry update, Chen said his team found susceptible checks in all experimental fields at the Palouse Conservation Field Station, Plant Pathology farm and Spillman farm.

Incidence was low in all locations, as the rust just started producing spores, Chen added.

Chen had cautioned in his April update that weather conditions would be turning favorable for the fungus.

“The observations of stripe rust in these locations are about one month later than that of last year, but about the normal time to see stripe rust in the Palouse region,” Chen wrote.

If farmers spot active rust or rust incidence reaches a level of 5%, they should apply a fungicide labeled for stripe rust as soon as possible, Chen wrote.

FURTHER READING
Xianming Chen is the Pacific Northwest’s expert on stripe rust: https://capitalpress.com/2021/11/11/war-on-stripe-rust-scientist-leads-pnw-battle-against-devastating-wheat-disease-copy/