Stripe rust spreads in eastern Washington
Washington Ag Today May 21, 2010 Stripe rust, which was showing up in winter wheat around the Walla Walla area, has moved northeast with a hotspot around St. John, Washington. Ric Wesselman of Syngenta brought some infected plants to this week’s Washington Grain Commission meeting where he reported on the disease’s spread. Wesselman: “It seems like in this last week we have had the conditions that are conducive. If you look at the weather patterns we have had over the last few weeks, we had some very strong, driving winds, right? And I believe some of the rust spores, speculating of course, came in on those strong winds to bring them up into the northwest.” Wesselman says it’s important to be out scouting for stripe rust particularly in susceptible varieties. Wesselman: “That is very important right now because in the last couple of days, depending upon where you are at, we‘ve had some rain episodes. And those conditions, the warming trends that follow it, the humid conditions, are conducive to the advancement of that.” Wesselman says the Certified Seed Guide is a good resource to find out about the susceptibility of a variety to stripe rust. The plants he brought to the commission meeting were from a field that is a blend of Tubbs and Madsen. Today is the deadline to make a reservation for the May Network Tri-Cities Luncheon May 26th that culminates the World Trade Month Awareness Campaign of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce. Bill Bryant Port of Seattle Commissioner will be the luncheon speaker on the topic of “Trade and Our International Competitiveness” sponsored by the Washington State Potato Commission. More details are at www.tricityregionalchamber.com I’m Bob Hoff on Northwest Aginfo Net.
