Disease emerges in wheat crop

Chicago
A fungal disease known as head scab has emerged in winter wheat crop in parts of Kansas, the biggest US producer of the grain, a crop expert said. Head scab, also known as Fusarium head blight, can infect wheat with a byproduct called vomitoxin, which sickens animals and people if consumed in large quantities.
“So far we have found moderate amounts of scab in southeast and east-central Kansas. Wheat in central and western Kansas appears to have only trace levels of the disease,” Erick DeWolf, a plant pathologist with Kansas State University, said in an e-mail on Thursday.
Wheat is most vulnerable to scab when wet conditions are present during flowering, the crop’s reproductive phase.
That phase occurred in Kansas in May, when most of the state recorded above-normal precipitation. Harvest should begin in the state later this month. Grain elevators can test for vomitoxin, and many impose discounts against wheat contaminated with more than 2 parts per million (ppm).