What’s That Black Mold on My Wheat?

Jul 07, 2023

The recent rain and humidity is bringing on black sooty mold in wheat, which is just naturally occurring fungal species colonizing the heads as they senesce. Anything that prematurely killed the wheat, including abiotic stress such as drought or diseases like take-all and root rots, will be seeing more of this black sooty mold. Areas of lodged wheat may also develop more of this sooty mold as they will hold moisture for longer than standing grain.

Generally, this sooty mold should not be much of a problem and will blow out the combine during harvest. However, we might see some black point on the grain caused by some of these fungal species, which shows as a black discoloration typically on one end of the grain. Although black point of the grain will not reduce yield, it can affect quality. This will depend on wheat growth stage of infection and disease pressure.

Fungicides applied for head scab may help to reduce the amount of black point. Head scab pressure in general is at low levels across Michigan as the risk for head scab was low during the critical flowering period. No new head scab infections will occur, but any fields that were infected with head scab may accumulate additional mycotoxin during these periods of excessive moisture.

Source : msu.edu

Video: Our Own On-Farm Research Is the Best Source - Managing White Mold in Northeast Nebraska

If you assumed Nebraska was too hot and dry for white mold to be a problem in soybeans, think again.

This week we're featuring Galen Samuelson, a farmer and dealer from Wakefield, Nebraska, who knows all too well how devastating white mold can be.

"We don't have it consistently every year, but with our temperature and humidity, it can hurt us quite bad," Samuelson says. Looking for alternatives, he explains, "What I like about Heads Up is that it's non-harmful to the beneficial fungal colonies in the soil." Galen has been using Heads Up for several years now, after first hearing about it through a small ad in a regional newspaper. Watch below to hear about his journey.

When asked to write about Samuelson Seed, Galen said the following:

"Samuelson Seed is a 4th-generation, family-based company. It started with my grandfather, and I'm now starting to pass the torch to my son, Caleb."

"In the early 1990s, I started working with a company whose focus was on plant and soil health before those benefits were widely known. I've continued to keep plant and soil health the main focus in our farming operation decisions."