Prairie Grains Jan.-Feb. 98

Issue 11
Jan./Feb. 1998
Study: $2.6 billion, 501 million
bushels lost to scab 1991-96

By Tracy Sayler

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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.

Fusarium head blight, or scab, has cost U.S. producers of spring, durum, and soft red wheat about $2.6 billion from 1991 through 1996, according to a study funded by the Minnesota Scab Initiative, and the wheat checkoff administered by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council.
The study measured spring wheat losses in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota between 1993 and 1996; durum losses in North Dakota, 1993-96; and soft red winter wheat losses in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio between 1991 and 1996.
Producers suffered lost revenue both in the field and in the marketplace. Scab lowers yields and also induces a higher rate of abandoned acres; both factors lower production in affected areas.
The study estimated that 501 million bushels of wheat were lost to scab from 1991 to 1996. The HRS class accounted for 52% of the production losses; durum 10% and SRW, 38%.
In addition to yield losses, the study indicated that losses due to quality-related price discounts (factoring futures and basis impacts) in the marketplace more than offset any shortage-induced gains in futures or protein premiums.
Factor in a multiplier effect- how the loss of spending and respending would affect Main Street and other sectors of the economy- and the $2.6 billion in producer losses would easily climb to $7 billion to $8 billion, says George Flaskerud, who was among the North Dakota State University researchers who completed the study, along with Demcey Johnson, Richard Taylor, and Vidya Satyanarayana.
The study will be updated early this year to include 1997 scab losses.

Production Losses Due to FHB
(million bushels)

Copyright Prairie
Grains Magazine January 1998

Issue 11 Jan./Feb. 1998	Study: $2.6 billion, 501 million bushels lost to scab 1991-96 By Tracy Sayler

Library Home E-Mail Back Prairie Grains is the official publication of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Wheat, Inc., and the Minnesota Barley Growers Association.	Fusarium head blight, or scab, has cost U.S. producers of spring, durum, and soft red wheat about $2.6 billion from 1991 through 1996, according to a study funded by the Minnesota Scab Initiative, and the wheat checkoff administered by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council. The study measured spring wheat losses in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota between 1993 and 1996; durum losses in North Dakota, 1993-96; and soft red winter wheat losses in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio between 1991 and 1996. Producers suffered lost revenue both in the field and in the marketplace. Scab lowers yields and also induces a higher rate of abandoned acres; both factors lower production in affected areas. The study estimated that 501 million bushels of wheat were lost to scab from 1991 to 1996. The HRS class accounted for 52% of the production losses; durum 10% and SRW, 38%. In addition to yield losses, the study indicated that losses due to quality-related price discounts (factoring futures and basis impacts) in the marketplace more than offset any shortage-induced gains in futures or protein premiums. Factor in a multiplier effect- how the loss of spending and respending would affect Main Street and other sectors of the economy- and the $2.6 billion in producer losses would easily climb to $7 billion to $8 billion, says George Flaskerud, who was among the North Dakota State University researchers who completed the study, along with Demcey Johnson, Richard Taylor, and Vidya Satyanarayana. The study will be updated early this year to include 1997 scab losses. Production Losses Due to FHB (million bushels)
Copyright Prairie Grains Magazine January 1998

Study: $2.6 billion, 501 million bushels lost to scab 1991-96

Study: $2.6 billion, 501 million
bushels lost to scab 1991-96