K-State Ag Today: Producers should watch out for leaf rust

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Leaf rust has made its first appearance in Kansas this year. The wheat disease was recently detected in Riley and Barber counties.

K-State Research and Extension plant pathologist Erick DeWolf says recent rains could trigger more outbreaks. Producers that have planted Jagger, Jagalene, or Overley, the three top wheat varieties in Kansas, should be especially vigilant.

"The other major criteria is related to the yield potential of those fields. If you have fields that have yield potential of 35 bushels or greater, and the price of grain still remains strong, or your have forward-contracts that have locked in a good price, then economics becomes much more conducive for seeing a positive return for that investment," DeWolf said.

DeWolf says if producers think they might want to apply a fungicide, they should start crunching the numbers now.

"Those most effective fungicides are applied between flag leaf emergence, up to flowering, when most of the fungicides we have labels for here in Kansas, would cut out," he said. "So, that optimal timing again is between flag leaf emergence, and through the heading, up to flowering, to apply the fungicide. So we have some time here, but it's time to start paying attention to what's going on in your area."

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