If you're thinking about planting spring wheat into milo or corn residue, South Dakota State University Extension has some tips you should consider to avoid problems with fusarium head blight.

The severe problems wheat producers had with wheat streak mosaic virus in years past can be traced back, in most cases, to a lack of control of volunteer wheat, says Kansas State University Extension. Here are some tips to combat it.

Scout fields to see what’s there and pay careful attention to product labels when choosing a foliar fungicide for wheat, says Ohio State University Extension.

Selecting clean seed that’s resistant to disease, along with fungicide seed treatments, can enhance your winter small grains crop this fall and into the next year, says Penn State Extension.

White or bleached heads are a common sight in wheat fields throughout South Dakota. There are two organisms that could be blamed for this kind of damage, an insect called wheat stem maggot (Meromyza americana) and a disease called Fusarium head blight/Scab caused by Fusarium fungus.

Before you begin to harvest, examine grain for discoloration. If you see a lot of small, shriveled, discolored kernels, consider increasing your fan speed during harvest to blow them out.

Start checking the wheat crop for flag leaf and head diseases symptoms to get an idea of how your disease control approached worked and what kind of quality you can expect at harvest.

Fields that flowered 2 to 3 weeks ago will be starting to show the symptoms of head scab now. These symptoms are easiest to see before the wheat turns straw-colored.

It/s time to consider protecting wheat heads from Fusarium head scab and wheat leaves from fungal diseases.