Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 11220 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta added as a regulated pest in the province in 1999, and since then established itself initially in the irrigated areas of southern Alberta. Today it has moved into central Alberta and can be found sporadically in fields in most areas on the province. Brian Kennedy, grower relations and extension coordinator with the Alberta Wheat Commission says despite its widespread prevalence, they are still deal- ing with some denial in Alberta. “I hear from lots of growers that they don’t have Fusarium in their area,” he says. “When in fact it is everywhere to some extent. We are looking to provide all growers with the tools they need to make sure it doesn’t become a big problem in wet years like this past one where we have had reports of lots of Fusarium across the province.” A Growing Concern Fusarium is relatively easy to spread. While it can spread through infected seed, the majority of its local movement happens through airborne spore disper- sal, generally through wind or rain. But anything from infected straw through to contaminated soil transported by equip- ment can move the disease over long distances. “The fungus produces some spores that move better through splashes of water, and others that are forcibly discharged into the air and then blown from field to field or moved through farming practices,” says Harding. “Each type of spore has adapted to disperse better in different ways. But human activities can also impact how the spores are moved around.” Fusarium took a while to take hold in Alberta because the growing conditions in this province are not always conducive to disease development. “Compare this to an area like Manitoba which pretty much has all three points of the disease triangle in a given growing season,” says Harding. “They have highly susceptible crops in wheat and corn, they have a particularly aggressive pathogen and they have the warm, humid weather in which disease can thrive.” So how did the disease spread across Alberta? While wheat is grown on most farms, it took a while for the pathogen to establish itself in Alberta’s relatively cool, dry climate. However, the earliest discov- ery of the disease in southern Alberta wasn’t because of the high moisture on irrigated farms. Rather, it was due to the prevalence of susceptible crops – corn and durum wheat. “Corn is a better host for the pathogen than wheat, but it is not as damaging a disease for that crop,” says Harding. “Fusarium doesn’t have the dramatic impact on yield on corn and it doesn’t cause downgrading in the crop. But corn is a great host for the disease and so when a grower rotates into wheat they have to contend with the spores from the disease in the straw. Similarly, durum wheat is a highly susceptible market class of wheat and provides opportunity for Fusarium graminearum to become estab- lished in a region.” In central Alberta, current research shows the pathogen is spreading from the east, rather than coming up from the southern areas of the province. Research- ers can see this in two types of DON produced by the disease – 15-ADON and 3-ADON. Sampling shows that all the corn is 15-ADON, as is most of the wheat in southern Alberta. In central Alberta, virtually 100 per cent of the pathogen is 3-ADON, a more aggressive pathogen similar to that found in areas outside the province, which is not spread through corn straw. Managing the Disease To help combat the threat from the disease, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development first introduced the Alberta Fusarium graminearum Management Plan in 2001, and recently updated the Plan in 2015 due to a significant increase Growers should be careful to reduce the window of infection where possible.