By Darren Hefty
Fool me once . . .we all know how that saying goes. When it comes to Stripe Rust, if you don’t stop it in 2012, then shame on you. Depending on where you farm, stripe rust has either been a big concern or a total disaster over the last couple of years, causing yield losses in the range of 10% to 70%. No one can tell us exactly how big of a problem it will be next year, but a proactive crop protection plan will give you peace of mind and a confidence that Stripe Rust will not hurt your yields. If you don’t plant stripe-rust resistant varieties on your farm, here’s our best plan to stop one of the worst diseases in wheat.
Step One – Don’t Plant Naked Seed
In areas where stripe rust gets an early start, seed treatments can be used to reduce seedling infections but more so to improve overall plant health early season. Raxil, Dividend, and Charter products in their most complete forms work the best. Adding Stamina to any of the three has shown to improve early season plant health, as well. The new NipsIt SUITE Cereals from Valent may be labeled in time for spring use, as well. This year’s NipsIt data on stripe rust reduction was very promising due to the metconazole in the product. $2 to $6 investment.
Step Two – Include a Fungicide with your Herbicide
Seed treatment is a great way to start, but it can’t completely protect a plant throughout the entire growing season. Adding a foliar fungicide to a post-emerge herbicide treatment is a great way to extend your protection. Normal products for this timing are Headline, Stratego, Quilt, and Bumper. While half rates of these products are good on some diseases like tan spot, it takes the FULL RATE to stop stripe rust. $4 to $12 investment.
Step Three – Fungicide at Flag-leaf
Stripe rust usually doesn’t arrive in the Northern U.S. until around flag leaf time, so spraying at that stage is often the most important. Just keep in mind that fungicides are very good at protecting your wheat, but they must be applied BEFORE disease sets in for them to work their best. TwinLine, Stratego, and Quilt are great choices. Save your Caramba, Prosaro, or Orius (generic Folicur) to apply at heading time, because if you use them at flag leaf, you don’t have other options to use later. Whatever product you choose, be sure to use the FULL rate rather than a reduced rate. $10 to $13 investment.
Step Four – Fungicide at Heading
Using a strobilurin fungicide at or near heading can increase your chance of vomitoxin in the wheat. The products to use, as mentioned above, are Prosaro and Caramba for best protection from head scab AND stripe rust. If head scab is not as big of a concern or if you’re trying to invest less in your field, then Orius is a really nice option at a lower price point. $2 to $13 investment.
In the Southern U.S., where stripe rust can hit earlier in the season, steps 1 and 2 are perhaps the most important points of emphasis. In the Northern U.S., steps 3 and 4 are probably the key, but if you want to make sure stripe rust doesn’t destroy your yields in 2012, you may need to follow all 4 points to completely stop this tough disease.