Farmers in western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan who plan on planting barley seed they harvested last fall should watch for germination problems.
The region was prime breeding ground for Cochiobolus sativus, the pathogen that causes spot blotch, said the head of cereal diseases at Agriculture Canada’s Winnipeg research centre.
Andy Tekauz said the fungi, which thrived in the hot, moist weather in the region last summer, are carried on seed, straw and stubble.
High levels of the fungi will prevent germination.
Tekauz recommended farmers in the region test their bin-run barley seed for germination and consider applying a seed treatment.
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The pathogen is one example of a problem waiting to happen in every cereal field in Western Canada, according to researchers involved with the Novartis-sponsored Cereal Leaf Disease Directorate.
“We’re dealing with something that’s sort of omnipresent,” said Tekauz.
But the group told reporters last week that farmers don’t know much about cereal leaf diseases.
Leaf disease pathogens are present in all cereal crops. Whether they cause problems depends on the weather and the amount of fungi. In general, the better the crop conditions, the higher the potential for diseases, said Tekauz.
“One of these diseases is going to hit producers wherever they are.”
In Manitoba, 1998 was a bad year for spot blotch, leaf rust and crown rust. In Saskatchewan, tan spot prevailed in wheat and durum, while net and spot blotch reared up in barley. In Alberta, farmers dealt with scald, net and spot blotch in barley in 1998, and septoria in wheat.
The researchers didn’t know how much the diseases cost farmers in yield and quality losses in 1998. But in 1997, leaf spot diseases cost Manitoba wheat growers an estimated $56 million – more damage than the much-hyped fusarium headblight.
In the same year in Saskatchewan, producers lost an estimated $49 million in wheat yields and $24 million in barley yields.
In Alberta, the 10-year average of yields lost to cereal leaf diseases is $17.5 million per year in wheat and $97.5 million in barley.
To combat the diseases, the researchers recommend an integrated approach involving resistant varieties, certified seed, longer rotations, cultivation, seed treatments and fungicides.
Tekauz said with current low cereal prices, many farmers can’t afford to use all the best management practices.
Myron Kopec of Novartis Crop Protection said Tilt, one of three registered fungicides for leaf disease, costs $12 per acre.
A small percentage of farmers spray their cereal crops with fungicide, the researchers said. Whether it makes economic sense to use fungicide to prevent the diseases depends on expected yields and growing conditions.
This summer, Saskatchewan Agriculture is working with farmers to test a guide similar to one used by canola growers to determine whether it makes sense to spray for sclerotinia.
Tekauz said forecast maps for leaf diseases similar to weekly sclerotinia risk maps may be available in the next two or three years.
