New Annual Reporting Shows Rots and Rust to Blame for Significant Wheat Disease Losses
Published: 05/10/2022
From 2018 to 2021, wheat diseases have been responsible for a nearly 10 percent reduction in harvested bushels annually. To identify and manage significant yield losses in wheat, The North Central Regional Committee on Management of Small Grain Diseases (NCERA 184) and the Western Wheat Workers (WERA 97), in collaboration with the Crop Protection Network, tracks and revises wheat disease loss estimates annually.
These reports account for approximately 90 percent of the total wheat produced annually in the United States and Ontario since 2018. The yield loss estimates include foliar, root, stem, head, and kernel diseases in the represented states. These reports also account for external factors affecting crop disease management, including weather events, crop production practices, and variety selection.
In 2021, Disease loss estimates show stripe rust, fusarium rots, and fusarium head blight as the most impactful crop diseases in the United States and Canada, with stripe rust being the most damaging (especially in the northern United States) at 21.1 million bushels lost.
Interested in what to look out for in your state or province? Learn more about yearly wheat disease losses and track the trends in your area by visiting the Crop Protection Network annual disease loss estimate publication series:
Fusarium root, crown, and foot rot of wheat was estimated to have reduced yields by more than 10 million bushels in 2021.
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