The first weekly Prairie wind trajectory cereal rust risk report for 2024 is available for download now at the following link: May 7-13, 2024 report.
As of the week of May 7-13, 2024, the overall Prairie cereal rust risk assessment and need for in-crop scouting is as follows:
Pacific Northwest – There were low to moderate numbers of reverse wind trajectories that passed over the PNW region and into the prairies, while stripe rust development is continuing, although levels are generally low, especially in commercial winter wheat fields in the PNW. Prairie winter wheat crops have resumed growth, while much of the spring wheat crop has just been seeded or will be seeded over the next two weeks. Overall as of May 13, 2024 the risk of stripe rust appearance from the PNW is limited and scouting for this disease in the Prairie region is generally not urgent.
Texas-Oklahoma corridor – There were relatively low numbers of reverse wind trajectories that passed over the TX/OK region and into the prairies, while stripe and leaf rust development are continuing, although levels are generally low, especially in commercial winter wheat fields in this region. Prairie winter wheat crops have resumed growth, while much of the spring wheat crop has just been seeded or will be seeded over the next two weeks. Overall as of May 13, 2024 the risk of stem, leaf, stripe, and crown rust appearance from the Texas-Oklahoma corridor is limited and scouting for these diseases in the Prairie region is not urgent.
Kansas-Nebraska corridor – There were relatively low numbers of reverse wind trajectories that passed over the KS/NE region and into the prairies, while stripe and leaf rust development are continuing, although levels are generally low, especially in commercial winter wheat fields in this region. Prairie winter wheat crops have resumed growth, while much of the spring wheat crop has just been seeded or will be seeded over the next two weeks. Overall as of May 13, 2024 the risk of stem, leaf, stripe, and crown rust appearance from the Kansas-Nebraska corridor is limited and scouting for these diseases in the Prairies is not urgent.
The early and wide spread appearance of stripe rust in the PNW, TX/OK and KS/NE regions is concerning. Over the next 2-4 weeks, if favourable weather conditions (especially more rainfall) occur in these source US regions, further stripe and leaf rust development could occur. This would result in more rust spores being available to be blown into the Prairie region, as well as more northerly rust development into the Dakotas and Minnesota/Wisconsin. Currently, Prairie winter wheat fields that have started to regrow are most at risk, but fortunately most current winter wheat varieties have intermediate to high levels of resistance, although AC Radiant, CDC Buteo, AAC Elevate, Broadview, and CDC Falcon are rated as susceptible (https://www.seed.ab.ca/variety-data/cereals/; https://saskseed.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2024-Varieties-of-Grain-Crops.pdf; https://www.seedmb.ca/pdf-editions-and-separate-section-pdfs/). If you are growing a stripe rust susceptible variety, it is important to keep an eye on your fields and follow further PCDMN cereal risk updates (https://prairiecropdisease.blogspot.com/).
