RIDGEVILLE, Man. (Staff) — The outbreak of fusarium head blight affecting cereal crops in southeastern Manitoba has come earlier and hit harder than last year, officials said last week.
But they cautioned it is still too early to assess damage the disease will cause to quality and yields.
Although virtually every wheat field east of the Pembina escarpment and south of the Trans-Canada Highway has some fusarium infection, “what we don’t know is how much tombstone will be present,” said Gary Platford, chief plant pathologist for the province.
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The disease creates what the trade calls “tombstone” kernels. They are the bleached, shrivelled and mouldy kernels that can contain hazardous mycotoxins.
Barry Todd, director of soils and crops for Manitoba Agriculture, said conditions between now and harvest could affect how the disease develops.
Infection isn’t tombstone
“The fungal development could be considerably different from last year,” Todd said. “If you see 20 percent infection, that doesn’t translate into 20 percent tombstone at harvest.”
Unlike last year, when the disease struck after most crops were headed, this year’s outbreak came earlier. The infected wheat kernels won’t develop at all — which means they won’t wind up in the bin.
“There will certainly be lost yields to farmers, but it may not be a downgrading factor in the bin,” Todd said.
