4 tips for ergot management

Debbie Furber, a Grainews writer from Tisdale, Sask., says they’ve got ergot in their wheat. It reminds her of 10 years ago when ergot was so bad in the area, people were dumping wheat into pits because they couldn’t sell it.

I phoned Lyle Cowell, regional agronomist with Viterra in Tisdale. He confirms that ergot is higher than normal is his area. Wheat flowered in moist conditions this year, which contributes to the disease, he says. But he’s not sounding alarm bells. Lyle predicts less than five per cent of fields will have a problem.

What if you’re one of those farmers with a bad sample? (It only takes 0.01 per cent ergot by weight to downgrade hard red spring wheat to a No.2.) Here are Lyle’s ergot management tips:

1. If you have lots of ergot in the headlands, combine and store wheat from these areas separately. Because ergot spores blow in from flowering brome and quack grasses (often in ditches), headlands will usually have much higher levels of ergot. Also watch areas around brome and quack grass patches within the field for elevated levels of ergot.

2. Clean wheat with higher ergot counts. Ergot is light and can be cleaned out with varying degrees of success.

3. Handle wheat as little as possible. Ergot pieces break apart fairly easily, and more pieces could make it more difficult to clean.

4. Next year, make an effort to control bromes and quack grasses around and in wheat fields. When ditches are mowed, you probably won’t get ergot, Lyle says.