Wheat is one of the most important grain crops in the United States and Canada and is grown as both a staple food crop and an export crop. Approximately 50% of the grain produced in the United States is exported. To reap the greatest economic returns, farmers must keep their wheat crops as healthy as possible. But given the many diseases that exist in wheat production, farmers may struggle to diagnose and manage diseases of importance.

With easy-to-use keys and cross-referencing tools that enhance efficient diagnosis, A Farmer’s Guide to Wheat Diseases helps growers pinpoint diseases and disorders in the field. The management recommendations it offers are intentionally general and meant to give growers and crop specialists a starting place to discuss more localized treatment recommendations with Extension or crop specialists in their region.

This highly accessible guide has these features:

• An easy-to-follow introduction to wheat diseases and disorders

• A nontechnical overview on diagnosing wheat diseases in a field setting

• Disease descriptions organized by part of the wheat plant affected

• Disease distribution maps to help narrow the search for suspect diseases

• Basic instructions for using diagnostic and scouting tools, such as hand lenses

• A glossary defining the various diseases and diagnostic terms used in the book

A collaborative effort, this book compiles the knowledge and expertise of 43 contributors from more than 25 universities and agencies. The result is the first comprehensive overview of wheat diseases across the United States and Canada written and priced for farmers.

This is the third book in the successful Farmer’s Guide series, which also includes A Farmer’s Guide to Corn Diseases and A Farmer’s Guide to Soybean Diseases.

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A Farmer’s Guide to Wheat Diseases

Preface

Contributors

Contents

PART ONE: Introduction

CHAPTER 1: How to Use This Book

CHAPTER 2: Understanding Wheat Diseases and Disorders

Impact of Diseases on Wheat
Infectious Diseases
   What Is Plant Disease?
   The Plant Disease Triangle
   Major Groups of Plant Pathogens and Mycotoxins
   The Disease Cycle
   Breaking the Disease Cycle
Noninfectious Disorders
   Field Patterns
   Timing
   Other Plants
The Wheat Plant
   Stages of Development
   Effects of Stress at Key Developmental Stages
   Scouting for Diseases of Wheat

PART TWO: Wheat Diseases and Disorders

CHAPTER 3: Diagnostic Key

Field and Weather Conditions
Disease Timeline and Field Distribution
Symptoms and Signs
   General Plant Symptoms and Signs
   Symptoms and Signs on Specific Plant Parts

CHAPTER 4: Foliar Diseases

       4.1 Aster Yellows
       4.2 Bacterial Leaf Blight
       4.3 Bacterial Streak and Black Chaff
       4.4 Barley Yellow Dwarf
       4.5 Cephalosporium Stripe
       4.6 Flag Smut
       4.7 Leaf Rust
       4.8 Powdery Mildew
       4.9 Septoria tritici Blotch
       4.10 Snow Molds
       4.11 Stagonospora Leaf and Glume Blotch
       4.12 Stripe Rust
       4.13 Tan Spot
       4.14 Wheat Soilborne Mosaic and Wheat Spindle Streak Mosaic
       4.15 Wheat Streak Mosaic, High Plains Disease, and Triticum Mosaic
       4.16 Foliar Diseases of Minor Importance

CHAPTER 5: Root and Stem Diseases

5.1 Cereal Cyst Nematode
       5.2 Common Root and Foot Rot
       5.3 Eyespot
       5.4 Fusarium Root, Crown, and Foot Rot
       5.5 Pythium Root Rot
       5.6 Rhizoctonia Root Rot
       5.7 Root-Lesion Nematode
       5.8 Sharp Eyespot
       5.9 Stem Rust
       5.10 Take-All
       5.11 Other Nematodes

CHAPTER 6: Head and Kernel Diseases

       6.1 Black Head Mold
       6.2 Black Point
       6.3 Blast
       6.4 Common Bunt
       6.5 Dwarf Bunt
       6.6 Ergot
       6.7 Fusarium Head Blight
       6.8 Karnal Bunt
       6.9 Loose Smut

CHAPTER 7: Noninfectious Disorders

       7.1 Nutrient Imbalances
       7.2 Chemical Injury
       7.3 Environmental Conditions and Genetic Disorders
       7.4 Insect and Mite Injury

CHAPTER 8: A Closer Look

Using a Hand Lens
Looking at Microscopic Images
Creating a Moist Chamber

Glossary

Image Credits

Index

”Exceptionally well organized and presented, this book is a thoroughly ‘user friendly' and recommended addition to personal, professional, college, and university library Agriculture/Horticultural collections—and a 'must' for anyone involved with the raising of wheat fields.”
— Midwest Book Review