Victorian crop disease warning as season gets underway

Agriculture Victoria senior research scientist Grant Hollaway said stripe rust was a concern for wheat crops, along with leaf rust in barley and wheat and stem rust in oats and wheat.

"It can only survive on living plant material," he said.

"When we have a wet summer, that provides an opportunity for the rust to survive on the cereals that are growing as volunteers.

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"That effectively creates a green bridge from the end of the last season and into the new season, which enables the rust inoculant to carry over at a much higher level."

The recent wet summer meant there was a higher risk of rust going into the new season, he said.

"Farmers can be aware there is a heightened risk from cereal rust and use that in their planning around variety selection and fungicide management strategies," he said.

"When we have a wet summer, that means its the time to up the amount of effort that's put into managing rust."

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Now was the time to take action and remove the green bridge before sowing began, he said.

"Lots of farmers will be doing that anyway, because they see the benefits in conservation of water by removing weeds and volunteer cereals growing in paddocks," he said.

"But even where farmers are doing that, they need to be aware of a heightened risk of rust that's posed by carry over in situations where the green bridge isn't removed."

Rust spores could travel large distances by wind, meaning properties that were free of the disease could still be at risk from other areas in the district.

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If left uncontrolled, rust could be exceptionally damaging, he said.

As well as managing the green bridge, farmers could use variety selection and fungicides.

"It's really to make sure people look at the current version of the cereal disease guide," he said.

"There has been some changes to rust ratings from last season."

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