By Scout Nelson
Nebraska’s 2025 Wheat Variety Tour is underway, providing wheat producers with the latest updates on wheat varieties and crop health. The tour began on June 5 in Fairbury, Jefferson County, with more field days planned statewide.
Participants saw various wheat lines from public and private breeding programs. Discussions included agronomic traits, regional adaptability, and disease resistance of the varieties. An important part of the event was the update on current disease conditions in Nebraska wheat fields.
Disease surveys conducted earlier in the week, on June 2, in south-central and southwest Nebraska showed mostly good to excellent crop conditions, especially in areas that recently received rainfall. The wheat in these areas is progressing from flowering to soft dough stages. Only low levels of bacterial streak, Septoria tritici blotch, and wheat streak mosaic virus were reported.
On June 5, researchers confirmed the first appearance of leaf rust for the season at the Havelock Research Farm in Lincoln, Lancaster County. Additional disease monitoring at ENREEC near Mead in Saunders County identified other issues such as Fusarium head blight (FHB), stripe rust, and black chaff, also referred to as bacterial streak on leaves.
“Help track the spread of stripe and leaf rust across the state by contributing to the 2025 rust tracking map by taking a brief survey.” Nebraska Extension continues to monitor the spread of rust diseases and encourages growers to contribute data.
As wheat continues to develop across Nebraska, the Extension team will focus on keeping producers informed about potential disease pressures and best practices for managing crop health throughout the season.
Photo Credit:gettyimages-ygrek
Categories: Nebraska, Crops, Wheat