WINNIPEG – Fusarium head blight is starting to appear in southern Manitoba wheat fields, a provincial plant pathologist said.
Gary Platford said the samples where the disease has been identified are from fields in the southern Red River Valley.
The disease is already widespread in northern U.S. states where fields have been deluged with heavy rain in recent weeks.
Surveys start this week
Manitoba officials will begin surveying this week to determine the extent of the infestation, but Platford said climactic conditions have been conducive to a major outbreak.
Fusarium likes moderate, moist conditions during the wheat’s flowering stage.
Weather conditions so far this summer have been a perfect fit, Platford said.
The disease can make the grain unfit for human consumption or animal feed because of mycotoxins produced in the rotting kernels.
Platford said the impact of the infection on quality won’t be known until grain is actually harvested this fall.
