CropMonitor: Yellow and brown rust predictions for the week beginning 22 April
Farmers Weekly has teamed up with CropMonitor to bring the latest disease risk predictions across England and Wales.
Four of the Live Monitoring sites that reported were at GS30, with others typically still at mid tillering.
On farm, winter wheat growth stages range from early tillering to GS31. T0 fungicides have largely now been applied to crops that need one, but many T1 applications (leaf 3 emergence) are likely to be delayed until the start of May.
No yellow rust was found in any of the Live Monitoring plots. However, a medium weather risk was recorded at most of the weather stations, there continue to be reports of the disease on farm and yellow rust can appear quickly. So in many areas the disease risk is now high for very susceptible varieties (rated 4 or less on the HGCA Recommended List) and moderate for others that are susceptible.
No brown rust was observed at any site, which is as expected given the crop and weather conditions to date. The current disease risk is therefore very low.Septoria tritici
Visible septoria levels range from negligible to severe, with location rather than variety having the most influence still. Recent rainfall has resulted in a medium or high weather risk being recorded at many of the weather stations, especially in the south and west of the country. As a consequence, despite little or no visible septoria in some cases, the disease risk in these areas has increased and is now moderate to high for susceptible varieties.
Mildew
Mildew was found at only one of the sites (Telford again), but with slight symptoms now present in more than half of the varieties. The weather risk has continued to be low in most areas, but late sown crops are often more vulnerable to the disease and crops in typically high risk situations should be monitored.
CropMonitor is a free online service by FERA, HGCA and Bayer CropScience. For the latest risk of wheat disease in your region, go to the dedicated webpage.
