Well, it's July 9, 2009 and the Southwest Region just experienced its first down pour of the season. Overnight from July 8th to July 9th the region had showers with amounts ranging anywhere from an inch right up to 6 inches. Just to give you an idea of how much rain we had in the region here is a chart to highlight some of the areas.

Boissevain - 1 inch

Brandon - 1 inch

Deloraine - 3 inches

Hartney - 8/10 inch

Melita - 1 inch

Pierson - 2 inches

Pipestone - 9/10 inch

Shoal Lake- 1 inch

Souris - 1 inch

Reston - 2 inches

Rossburn - 1 inch

Virden - 1 inch

Southern Border - 6 inches

I have had lots of phone calls today asking what this means for farmers?

Will farmers need to spray fungicides now? Are we still in a drought situation? What about pastures? Do we need more rain? Is this too much rain?

All of these questions are very valid questions but we can't paint all farmers with the same brush. The farmers that received an inch of rain will definitely want more rain; the farmers that received 6 inches of rain may not want rain for a little while. However, we all know we can't control Mother Nature or what she dishes out to us so instead we need to accept what we were given and move forward. In a perfect world we would all want a soft warm rain not a hard pounding rain but we're farmers and we'll take what we can get!

I think the rain was a very timely rain! We all definitely needed a rain and it will go a long way in helping us finish our crop this season. The rains will definitely help the pasture situation however more rain is required. The majority of the canola in the southwest is just starting to bloom with the majority of fields nicely into the 20% bloom stage. There are some reseeded crops that are close to bolting but they aren't that far behind the majority of the canola crop. The cereal crop ranges anywhere from the 5 leaf stage right up to anthesis. Anthesis is the period during which a flower is fully open and functional. So in wheat this is about 5 days after the head has emerged. Anthesis is an extremely important stage in our wheat crop in Manitoba because this is the stage in the plants life that it can become infected with Fusarium Head Blight. Fusarium Head Blight overwinters in soil, grass and crop residue as well as in the seed. Spores are produced first on stem infections at the base of the plant. These spores are spread by rain or wind to infect flower parts, glumes or other portions of the head.

Head blight in the plant can be recognized by premature bleaching of some or all of the spikelets in the head. The infected spikelets are often sterile. The seed in spikelets, above the point of infection may not develop. Diseased heads exhibit fungal growth with an orange to pinkish tinge. At this point there is nothing that you can do and thus this is why you need to assess your risk prior to anthesis. Infected grain is shriveled and tends to be lighter in weight. Individual kernels are usually whitish in color with a pink tinge to them. As warm, moist weather develops, spores that are spread by rain splash and wind infect the florets continuous moisture and warm weather (25-30 degrees C or 77-86 degrees F) are needed for infection when the grain is flowering. Thus, we now have two of the three requirements for the disease. With the rain that we experienced last night we now have the moist conditions and the heat so if the disease is present it is extremely important to make a decision. If we look at this Fusarium Head Blight Risk Map from Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Initiatives, the majority of the southwest region is at low risk for the disease. However, if the moisture and heat remain over the next few days the risk will increase.

So, scout your fields, check for disease pressure in the canopy, check for moisture in the canopy and how long the moisture persists, decide if you have a good enough crop to warrant a fungicide application and then talk to your local retailer about your fungicide options. In Manitoba, the only two products that are registered for suppression of Fusarium Head Blight are Folicur and Proline. If you refer to this diagram you can see the different stages that you need to be scouting for in your fields. Scouting your field is extremely important because true anthesis is only about an 18 hour window. So monitoring your fields every day from heading until the end of anthesis is important when making your decision. With hotter temperatures this window for application can be less than 18 hours, so it is very important to be constantly monitoring your fields. For protection against fusarium head blight, fungicides should be applied during the period between when at least 75% of the wheat heads on the main stem are fully emerged and 50% of the heads on the main stem are in flower. If you are seeing white anthers dropping from your heads it is too late to warrant a spray. Remember; even if you miss anthesis you can still apply fungicides for the leaf diseases. So if you are seeing rust, tan spot or septoria you still have control options.