Take action to minimise cereal disease this season

10 July 2023

With the 2023 season well underway, Agriculture Victoria is urging farmers to look out for emerging signs of diseases such as Septoria tritici blotch and stripe rust in wheat and Net blotches in barley crops.

Agriculture Victoria Senior Cereal Pathologist, Dr Hari Dadu said in a normal season signs of disease on crops wouldn’t be seen until July or early August, however diseases had already been found in crops this year in the Wimmera.

‘Stripe rust on volunteer wheat plants was noted in April, a Septoria infection in wheat was found in May and a seedling infection of net form of net blotch in barley was identified in early sown crops in June.

‘Above average spring rainfall last year followed by rain this season has helped to carry over high levels of disease in stubble and on volunteer plants creating conducive conditions for disease to spread,’ he said.

‘Growers will be monitoring their crops, but we also encourage them to check disease resistance ratings for the varieties they have sown using an up-to-date disease guide because these ratings are reassessed annually.’

Current indicators suggest the potential for an outbreak is high unless a dry spring occurs, and the upper canopy of crops isn’t affected.

Dr Dadu said if disease is present, it can be controlled with a well-timed fungicide application.

‘Two foliage fungicide applications have been found to be economical for varieties susceptible to Septoria tritici blotch and net blotches,’ he said.

'As we saw last season, if crop disease takes hold early in the season the damage is significant unless a well-timed fungicide is applied.’

Growers can download and use the StripeRustWM App to manage their fungicide application program for stripe rust control. The StripeRustWM app is now available for mobile phones as well as the original tablet app.

Visit the Agriculture Victoria website for more information or download the latest cereal disease guide directly from the Agriculture Victoria website.

Media contact: Anna Ferguson

Phone: 0499 540 475