Issue 33
January 2001

Copyright
Prairie Grains Magazine
January 2001

Wheat research highlights 2000

FHB Focus Continues at State and National levels

Research, particularly to address fusarium head blight, or scab, continues to be a major focus for the Council. 

One research project supported by the Minnesota wheat checkoff is a wheat disease forecasting system, at North Dakota State University. Last summer, the system provided good advice for growers in the region most seriously affected by disease. The forecasting system was offered on the web (www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/cropdisease) and through updated, summarized recordings that producers could access toll-free by phone. The forecasting system tracked fungal spores, wheat growth development, and weather conditions to pinpoint in near real-time the potential for Fusarium head blight (scab), rust, tan spot, and Septoria blotch disease infections in wheat.

The MWRPC has been instrumental in organizing scab research efforts at the state and federal levels.  Scab research at the U of M involves 20 principle investigators and in all, 75 people in four departments and three campuses (St. Paul, Crookston, Morris).

At the federal level, Tom Anderson, a Barnesville, MN, farmer, is co-chair of the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative, which in (federal) fiscal year 2000 involved 104 projects carried out in 23 states by over 70 scientists from 22 land grant universities and the USDA-ARS. More information on research conducted under the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative can be found on the Internet at: www.scabusa.org.

Anderson also chairs Minnesota’s Small Grains Research and Communications Committee, which involves a cross-section of the state’s wheat industry and advises the MWRPC on research projects funded by producers through Minnesota’s wheat checkoff.

Each December, the MWRPC hosts a research reporting session in Fargo for producers and the public.  Researchers from the U of M and NDSU present updates on research projects funded in part by the Minnesota wheat checkoff. The latest research results are published in the booklet, “2000 Wheat Research Review,” which is free to Minnesota producers and may be requested by contacting the MWRPC, 1-800-242-6118.