After visiting with Mary Burrows (MSU Disease Diagnostician), we are estimating that stripe rust will begin injuring cereal grains this week. Below are a few notes I have compiled on biology and management of the stripe rust fungus.
• Fungal spores attack wheat consuming the nutrients synthesized by the host plant.
• Spread by green bridge and wind dispersal. Community disease like WSMV with multiple infection cycles.
• Spores on the ground are dead because they need living plant tissue to survive. Spores will over-winter on volunteer plants. Wet weather in the fall will promote stripe rust su...