May 14, 2010

Wheat growers can now subscribe to electronic alerts of fusarium head blight outbreaks in their region or across the country. The Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) Risk Assessment Tool/Forecasting Map is available through the FHB Prediction Center.

The U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI) has worked closely with the curators of the FHB Prediction Center to develop the alert system. It takes state and national comments posted by wheat disease specialists throughout the country to the FHB Risk Assessment Tool and sends alerts to subscribers. Users can receive alerts as text messages to their cell phone or email as well as an RSS feed from the USWBSI blog where reports are posted.

Users also can subscribe to regional alerts:

• Great Plains Region (Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma) — Hard winter wheat
• Mid Atlantic Region (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) — Soft winter wheat
• Mid West/Northern Region (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin) — Soft winter wheat
• Northern Great Plains Region (Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) — Hard red spring wheat, hard winter wheat, and barley
• Southern Region (only includes Arkansas in 2010) — Soft Winter Wheat

To subscribe to the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative alerts go to http://scabusa.org/fhb_alert.php and indicate whether you’d like to receive alerts by text, e-mail, or both. Subscribe to the RSS feed at http://scabusa.org/modules/whatsnew/rss_valid.php.

Stephen Wegulo
Extension Plant Pathologist, Lincoln