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Disease of Barley
In barley, serious fungal diseases include spot blotch, net blotch, powdery mildew and Septoria leaf blotch. Spot blotch is characterized by small round or oval black spots on the upper leaf surface. Net blotch is differentiated from spot blotch by having elongated black lesions running parallel to the leaf veins plus having some small black lesions running perpendicular to the leaf veins, hence the net appearance. Septoria leaf blotch is characterized by boat-shaped elongated, light brown spots on the leaves. Small black fruiting bodies may be evident in the spots.
Foliar fungicide use is warranted if certain guidelines are met, based on knowledge gained through scouting of the diseases present and their severity. Guidelines include high yield potential, approximately 60 bushels for barley. If fungal leaf diseases are severe on leaves just below the emerging flag leaf and wet and humid weather continues, this favors infection and continues to spread disease. Fungicide application should be seriously considered when above conditions are met.
Fungicides applied to barley heads for scab suppression have resulted in significant yield increases, but they have not resulted in significant reductions in levels of vomitoxin or deoxynivalenol (DON). Therefore, if barley producers chose to try and control scab in barley, they should anticipate a yield increase, but not enough reduction in vomitoxin to achieve levels required by the malting industry.
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