 I'm going to talk a little bit about wheat diseases and wheat fungicide use And I'm also going to include some comments about small grains as well. I Think we're aware that we have a little bit of an unusual year developing at this point in time It was dry through most of the fall as a result a lot of the And other small grains that are grown both as for cover crops forages and for For grain didn't get planted or if they did they didn't get planted until the end of November and And into into December so we've got a little unusual situation this year in that the crop Such as it is it's going to be very late Which you talk about diseases is actually a bit of a positive in that Not having the Winter cover Game food and some of the forage plots out there, which are usually planted maybe even as early as late September into early October Can serve as an oculom source for foliar diseases as well as viruses in In small grains and they're basically not there so in all likelihood we're We've got less an oculom Pressure going into into this year than maybe we've had in In in the recent past so that's For that standpoint, that's actually a positive Because some of these other crops do serve a Source particularly for rust disease now, of course Depending on what the weather does from now into early April will determine Really whether or not we have some serious problems or not If the weather Stays cold as it was this week, you know, that'll pretty shut pretty well shut down all the diseases that we Might be concerned with it couldn't develop over the winter If it gets wet out particularly if it warms up a bit and stays wet Under those circumstances we're more likely to see more Disease activity and weed and other small grains, so we're just have to wait and see what the weather does from now on out As to how much an oculom pressure we're going to run into and We change Did you do like a page down? Yeah, I tried dad This happened to us some yesterday Eddie and I were having some issues with power point Yeah, let's try that. There we go Let the work our way through it. Yeah, all right as far as rust diseases are concerned They're three primary rusts in in wheat and we see some similar rusts and other small grains as well Leave for us the one at the image at the top is Definitely the most common rust disease that we see on on wheat we see very similar diseases on barley and oats as well They could get established on wheat in the winter time but Develop very rapidly in late winter and early spring under the right weather conditions We almost never see stem rust. It's only shown up a few times in years past Uh, yellow or stripe rust does show up some in the Tennessee Valley Not really don't really see it anywhere else in the state very often. It is very variety specific and at least over The last few years in rating plots It's very variety specific and most of our commercial varieties really do not have serious issues with so yellow rust So the main one is that we're concerned about his leaf rust and it's fully capable of reducing yields when it's not controlled on a susceptible variety by up to 50% in recent years, we've done some work on oats with crown rust and On oats, for example, that yield loss can approach a hundred percent given the right circumstances So it normally we're really looking for a rust in mid to late March and it develops rapidly from that point on it as I said before wet weather does bring it or accelerate the development of rust and as far as The state is concerned and this is true with mode with foliar diseases in general is that they're more You tend to see more issues with them and they're much more severe the closer you get to the coast And then they tend to be less of an issue As you go further north particularly in the Tennessee Valley Most of varieties are the varieties do different their reaction to rust although most of the ones we have in the market are not particularly susceptible and one of the problems in managing diseases of the rust disease that we're always using resistance as a really effective tool for managing these diseases, but Over time the the genes You develop races of the rust fungi that can defeat the genes that are available in many of our varieties and in other parts of the world That is happening with with stem rust Bloom blotch and Sceptoria leaf blotch or two other diseases that we run into a good deal in the state of Alabama on wheat I don't think they have the potential to Reduce yields as much as rust does but they can look ugly and you can't have a lot of damage particularly from From gloom blotch damaging the damage in the seed heads So you you tend to see a reduction in seed test weight In those situations. So the gloom blotch is definitely the more damaging of the two the and is more of a statewide distribution the Sceptoria leaf blotch I've only really ever seen it in the Tennessee Valley and it does cause On some varieties noticeable leaf blotting, but as long as it doesn't get into the tops of the plants It's it's probably not having that much impact on yield and it's oftentimes in our In the field trials have been run in the state of Alabama. It's not always very easy to sow a yield increase from Fundus I use for control of these types of blotch disease, but they're definitely like the rust they are rainfall driven so when we have a lot of wet mild weather in Mid-March on through the first of first of May. It's really going to push those diseases to develop Mildew, you know, we're kind of declining in severity Mildew is oftentimes very showy But its effects on yield are less than and perhaps some of these other diseases it tends to be a problem on when we Use too high seeding rate or in turn rows or where we get a doubling over of nitrogen rates Are those areas where you tend to see most of your mildew? I mean on some varieties and some circumstances given the right weather patterns it can turn wheat white and it'll have colonized the fungus Will colonize virtually every above ground part of a wheat plant so it's not unusual see powdery mildew on the seed heads It tends to be a mild Cloudy weather disease, but if it rains a lot that tends to actually suppress powdery mildew So overall it tends to have a lot less impact on yield than than the other two diseases that I mentioned in and a lot of our varieties are fairly resistant to this disease One disease has gotten more attention in the past four or five years has been scab It's not only the Blading of the seed head because it's basically the only part of the plant that is affected by scab but it's also the cause of fungus produces mycotoxins and we've had issues with this disease particularly in the last four or five years and And the buying points simply are not interested in purchasing scab damage wheat A few years ago. They bought some and they got stuck with it couldn't get rid of it most of our wheat goes into the baking industry and the mycotoxins Tolerance levels are fairly low for food stocks and there are some other issues They come up with having mycotoxin contaminated grains, so they're they simply are not going to buy it So This is a disease that really does need to be controlled It specifically develops and we have a lot of rain during flowering if it's dry during flowering You won't have issues with scab, but if he gets a couple of showers in there When the wheat is in bloom And you get right temperature patterns it could be off to the races and This disease is specifically linked with corn production, so it's Overall, it's not a good idea to plant wheat after corn Particularly if the corn has been no-tilled the fusarium fungus that causes scab and wheat also causes fusarium stock rod and Gibraltar ear rod in corn, so When you're planting wheat into corn stubble, there's a ready inoculum source and in the disease is much much more likely to be a problem there, but We've seen scab outbreaks in in wheat behind cotton So it's just not only corn is vulnerable for wheat behind corn and as I mentioned We do have the mycotoxin issues with vomitoxin, zeeralones and some other few monosin toxins and I Mentioned here that you would get a significant discount at the elevator but the reality is they don't want scabby wheat and The other issue is some growers will grow wheat as Animal feed and those mycotoxins are an issue For some animals probably beef cattle are the least sensitive, but when you get into animals with simple stomachs hogs and some birds Scabby wheat is a real problem and it's going to cause a lot of issues. So so its value is a Feed material or Feed additive is minimal if you look at some of the other symptoms of scab if you look at a seed head that's Been infected, but not really showing a lot of symptoms. You'll see a distinct peak discoloration around the globe That's the fungus for you lady going to tissue If you go a few more weeks where the seed heads have already bleached out You'll see clusters of small black bodies around the base of the seed and the base of the glimpse those of these Sexual fruiting structures of the fusarium fungus. It's a gibbarilla Sexual stage and of course that's diagnostic for identifying scab and wheat if you look at the damaged kernels They tend to be greatly reduced inside and have a distinct peak pink cast to them as compared with a normal Light or medium tan grain and in image D You can just see clearly see the difference between the healthy and the scabby wheat There is a Model out there that growers can use as well as the agents to monitor scab development in their either their crop or their area It's a weather-based forecasting bottle and at least gives The growers and you and ideas to whether or not scab is likely to develop and then based on the forecast The growers could then decide whether or not they want to come back with a Over-the-top fungicide treatment and these are the websites Where this model can be accessed first right now it's down, but it'll start back up in in the middle of March We get into fungicide use that it gets to be an economics and insurance question Fungicides typically are very similar to buying term life insurance. You're getting some protection for a short period of time We're primarily Targeting the these foliar diseases that I talked about when you get into some of the soil-borne diseases like take-all route ride There's nothing we can do about that Economics wise We need at least 50 or maybe 60 bushels per acre yield potential in order to even begin to cover the cost of the fungicides and then Maybe make some get some additional income benefit from the fungicide or if a grower is producing Foundation or certified seed which has at a higher value than just been run wheat seed or other small brains Then there's the income potential gains From using the fungicide as well as a quality benefit On top of the on top of any yield gains because you get a much plumper and larger Seed is resolved more uniform seed You know over the years as I mentioned earlier We tend to see more disease issues in Southwest Alabama or South Alabama that we do anywhere else in the state As far as wheat is concerned So in those high disease pressure areas those The locations when we tend to see a yield benefit and an income benefit out of using fungicides And we're particularly addressing the rust disease is septoria powdery mildew When you get into scab, it's a little bit different situation because We can have scab outbreaks anywhere in the state in the past They used to think and used to have more issues. It seemed like with it in the Tennessee Valley, but in the last three or four years We've had severe scab outbreaks down for example in Baldwin County. So the disease does have a statewide distribution and It doesn't matter where it develops It's going to cause the same issues with poor brain quality and the mycotoxin contamination. So For scab issues if the risk is high regardless of where you are in the state, you may need to spray So we like to see both scalp fields several locations need field to monitor the foliar disease that we talked about Monitor weather patterns because the wetter it is warmer. It is more likely you are to have disease issues There are a lot of fungicides in the marketplace. So Growers need to look at what their disease spectrum is what how much cost they want to put into the crop And make an appropriate fungicide decision. There are generics out there that are relatively inexpensive and will provide Adequate control in moderate disease pressure situations but they're also particularly in some of the name brand products are the go-to materials when you're under high disease pressure and Growers particularly if they scout have the option of coming with one or two applications And this is just a listing of all the products that are available for for use on small grains just about Or in fact all of them are labeled for use on wheat When you get into barley oats and triticale you gotta gotta pick and choose a little bit because some of them are labeled Some of them are not and when you're dealing with a food and feed crop You do have to make sure that the product is ready for registers specifically for that crop And not just assume because it's a small grain that you can apply it Uh to whatever crop you want to Very quickly, I'm just going to touch on barley yellow dwarf I'm sure kathy's going to talk a little bit more about aphid management So I'm going to leave all that to her but it is an aphid transmitted virus disease Uh green bug being the primary Vector but there's probably more and a lot more and Probably with the conditions we've had this year. It's going to be less of a problem And it's mainly we could avoid the problem with early planting and some insecticide programs So basically that's all I had to go over today and you know, if there's anything that I need to address Let me know drop me an email and uh, we'll try and get the information out. Thank you I got a question for you and Brandon may have some later I run into this with the insecticides, you know, because it's Lots of times you can't afford to be scouting there Scouting the wheat because especially with the prices the way they are If you can only put a fungicide on once in north central and south alabama, when would you put that fungicide on? If we're not talking about scab When the flag leap was fully emerged because we wanted the most important thing is that the flag will you stay intact as long as possible Okay, so that's that's that's going to be key right there in your mind and then if weather conditions are Right and they could use the forecast rather than scouting right with the with the scab That one that that's a much later spray. Yeah with the scab you're going to have to use the I mean either base it on weather patterns and cropping history or you can use the Use the weather based model as a means of determining whether or not you want to Go ahead and apply fungicide because when you deal with scab you are dealing with name brand products Uh and probably percero is is the preferred material at this point in time corrupt of being the other one and so And and those are Expensive treatments and Really only need to be used in situations where they're more like more more than likely They're going to use the growers going to see a quality any yield benefit