Parts of Virginia Under Increased Risk for Fusarium Head Blight

April 13, 2020

Most of our wheat in Virginia has just begun to head; early lines planted at the Eastern VA AREC in Warsaw started heading around April 9-10. According to the National FHB Risk Assessment Tool, FHB risk for wheat flowering April 9-13 is medium to high for parts of Eastern Virginia, including the Northern Neck, middle peninsula, and Tidewater. 

The in-season risk map allows the user to go to their area and determine the risk (low, medium, high) of FHB in their area based on whether they have a susceptible, moderately susceptible, or moderately resistant variety. The estimated FHB risk is based on the probability of an FHB epidemic with greater than 10% field severity using relative humidity data 15 days prior to flowering. The above figure shows a medium to high risk for susceptible varieties flowering on April 13. However, if moderately resistant varieties are planted, the FHB risk is low.

FHB index for varieties in the Virginia Tech State Wheat Tests can be found here.

For more information, visit the National Fusarium Risk Tool (wheatscab.psu.edu).