Blog: Agronomy & Extension

Post-registration Assessment of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in Spring Wheat, Barley and Winter Wheat 

Coles Ag on March 7, 2024

By Anne Kirk and Chami Amarasinghe, Manitoba Agriculture 

The Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Team (MCVET) has been evaluating the effects of Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) on spring wheat, winter wheat and barley varieties under conditions of natural infection for a number of years. Varietal resistance ratings for FHB, as presented in Seed Manitoba, are determined through inoculated trials conducted during the period the variety is tested in the variety registration system. While this provides good information on resistance to FHB, the data generated provides limited comparisons with other registered varieties.

Post-registration FHB analysis provides an opportunity to compare fusarium damaged kernels (FDK) and deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation among registered varieties over a number of locations in Manitoba. Fungicides are not applied to MCVET trials, and FHB infection is the result of natural infection. Due to variety turnover in MCVET trials, on-going analysis is required to evaluate the response of newly registered varieties. 

In 2023, DON accumulation was low at the majority of sites. At the spring wheat sites, mean DON accumulation was below the detection limit of 0.5 ppm at ten of the eleven sites tested; DON ranged from 0.5 to 1.2 ppm at the one site where DON was detected (Table 1). Mean DON accumulation at the barley sites was below detection limit at six of eleven sites, and ranged from 0.5 to 0.8 ppm at the remaining sites (Table 2). Mean DON accumulation in winter wheat was below detection limit at all sites tested (Table 3). Varieties with the highest FDK and DON levels were generally rated as susceptible (S), moderately susceptible (MS), or intermediate (I) for FHB resistance; however, there is variability in FDK and DON within each of the five resistance categories. 

FHB infection is highly influenced by environmental conditions; however, there are management options that should be used to mitigate the risk of FHB. The first step is to select varieties with improved resistance to FHB. Resistance ratings published in Seed Manitoba are a good first place to look for disease resistance information. Caution must be used with one year of data, as presented in these tables. Other management strategies include crop rotation and fungicide application. 

Thanks to Manitoba Crop Alliance for providing funding to conduct FDK and DON analysis and the Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Team and contractors who provided the harvested samples.

Seeding Date and Seeding Rate Considerations for Spring Cereals

Coles Ag on March 7, 2024

There are many considerations when planning spring seeding of wheat and barley. Seeding date and seeding rate are two variables to think about to get your crop off to a good start.

Seeding Date

 

Seeding date is an important factor to consider, as it can impact overall crop yield. In Manitoba, spring wheat and barley are usually seeded between May 1 and 30. Although, if the conditions are optimal, farmers have been able to seed in April.

  • If conditions are conducive to seeding, earlier seeded (figure 1) crops tend to have higher yields and improve yield stability (Manitoba Agriculture, n.d.). Earlier seeded crops can utilize early spring moisture more efficiently, assisting in quick and vigorous growth, which helps reduce weed competition.
  • Additionally, earlier seeded crops, depending on their flowering date, potentially avoid heat damage during flowering. More information about early seeding can be found here and here.

Figure 1: Seeding date vs. relative yield for common Manitoban crop types between 2010-2019 (MASC, 2019)

There are risks associated with early seeding these include:

  • The risk of frost. Most spring wheat and barley are tolerant to some frost (down to -6 °C) when the growing point is below the soil surface, this is until the 5-leaf – jointing stage. Frost damage symptoms include leaves that are dark green, wilted, and have dead leaf tips (Manitoba Agriculture, n.d.). Risk of frost damage and plant death increases when the growing point gets closer to the soil surface.
  • Seeding into cold and wet soils will slow crop emergence, therefore consider using a seed treatment. It should be noted that a minimum temperature of 4 °C is required for germination for wheat and barley (Manitoba Agriculture, n.d.).

Farmers know best about the typical weather conditions in their area. In addition to lived knowledge, long-term weather data can help identify the risk of frost in your area. Manitoba Agriculture produces frost maps for the province which can be found here.

Seeding Rate

 

The seeding rate of spring cereals is an important decision that can affect both yield and grain quality, by impacting all key wheat yield components. Seeding rates differ between crop types. Current Manitoba Agriculture recommendations for wheat and barley are found in table 1, below. Furthermore, when selecting target plant populations overall management practices, such as soil fertility or pest management, and field selection should be considered to handle the selected target plant population.

Table 1. Manitoba target plant populations recommendations for spring wheat and barley.

Crop

Target plant population (plant/ft2)

Spring Wheat

23-28

Barley

22-25

Manitoba Agriculture’s target plant populations were recently reevaluated in 2017 and 2018 and were found to still be adequate (Manitoba Agriculture, 2020). Yield results from the study can be found in figure 2. Plant populations also affect crop uniformity, time to maturity, lodging risk, disease risk, weed competition and overall yield stability (Manitoba Agriculture, n.d.; Collier et al., 2021). Higher seeding rates have been found to improve crop uniformity and decrease days to maturity (O’Donovan et al., 2012). Crop uniformity is also one important component to maximize the efficiency of crop protection agents, such as fungicide application for fusarium head blight. Higher seeding rates have also been found to decrease weed competition.

However, higher seeding rates may lead to thicker crop canopies, thus creating an environment more conducive to disease. As well, increased lodging, and inter-plant competition for resources can be an issue with higher seeding rates, reducing the crop yield potential. If you are planning on targeting higher plant population, it is recommended that varieties with strong straw strength or semi-dwarf varieties are used. Refer to Seed Manitoba for this information. More information about higher seeding rates, its benefits and risks can be found here.

Figure 2. Spring wheat (left) and barley (right) yields at five target plant densities from trials across Manitoba. Different letter represent statistical significant differences in yield (Manitoba Agriculture, n.d.)

Research has found that for malting barley the optimum target plant population which maximizes yield and grain quality to achieve malting grade is at the lower end of Manitoba Agriculture’s recommended target plant population (O’Donovan et al., 2012). For more information on malting barley specific seeding considerations check out this document.

Seeding by target plant population is encouraged, as seeds come in different sizes. This method accounts for differences in thousand kernel weight and per cent expected seed survival.   This method allows you to optimize your seeding rate and give you the best chance to hit your target plant population. The formula can be found below. Although, seed calculators from FP Genetics and Alberta Grains can take the manual calculations out of it. More information about seeding by plant population can be found here.

*Per cent expected survival is expressed in decimal form. ex. 85 per cent = 0.85.

References

  1. Manitoba Agriculture. (n.d.). Reward Versus Risk: Seeding Early In Manitoba. Province of Manitoba | agriculture – Reward Versus Risk: Seeding Early in Manitoba (gov.mb.ca)
  2. Manitoba Agriculture. (n.d.). Spring Frost Damage. Province of Manitoba | agriculture – Spring Frost Damage (gov.mb.ca)
  3. Manitoba Agriculture. (n.d.). Aiming for higher wheat yields. Province of Manitoba | agriculture – Aiming for Higher Wheat Yields (gov.mb.ca)
  4. Manitoba Agricultural. (2020). Seeding Rates for Spring Cereals. seeding-rates-spring-cereals.pdf (gov.mb.ca)
  5. Collier, G.R., Spaner, D.M., Graf, R.J., & Beres, B. (2021).  Optimal Agronomics Increase Grain Yield and Grain Yield Stability of Ultra-Early Wheat Seeding Systems. Agronomy. 11(2), 240. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11020240
  6. O’Donovan, J.T., Turkington, T.K., Edney, M.J., Juskiw, P.E., Harker K.N., Clayton, G.W., Laford, G.P., Brandt, S., Johnson, E.N., May, W.E., & Smith, E. (2012). Effect of seeding date and seeding rate on malting barley production in western Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 92; 321-330. https://doi.org/10.4141/cjps2011-130

Research on the Farm – Wheat Seeding Rate Trial Summary

Coles Ag on January 22, 2024

MCA-funded research at the 2023 Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference

Coles Ag on January 3, 2024

Key findings from the Assessment of New Malting Barley Varieties for Production and Malting Selection in Manitoba final project report

Coles Ag on November 3, 2023

Variety selection is an important consideration for farmers, as not all varieties are created equal. Varieties can differ in days to maturity, plant height, lodging risk, disease ratings, pre-harvest sprouting, grain quality factors and yield. Farmers need to evaluate variety characteristics against the risks and needs of their operation.

Taking time for variety selection is generally a simple consideration within the producer’s control that can maximize operational production and profits. However, complicating factors to consider when selecting a cereal variety is your target market, grain buyer and end-user requirements. For some cereal crops, like malting barley, the end user (maltsters and brewers) and grain buyers require barley to satisfy specific criteria.

In Manitoba, total barley acres (feed plus malting barley) have declined over the last 20 years. Due to a combination of disease concerns, market forces and difficulty to meet malting grade, producers have stayed away from barley in their rotations. According to the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s annual Seeded Acreage Reports from 2020-2023, total seeded barley acres have steadied, with seeded acres remaining consistent between 365,000 and 400,000 acres. Over the last few years, several new malting barley varieties have been registered for producer use in Canada and there was a need to evaluate the new varieties of malting barley in field scale trials, under Manitoba growing conditions to provide Manitoba farmers with data on how new varieties could fit in their cropping system.

The research project, Assessment of New Malting Barley Varieties for Production and Malting Selection in Manitoba was developed to address this issue. The project was a collaborative effort between the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre (CMBTC) and Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA), with support from Tone Ag Consulting, Canadian Grain Commission – Grain Research Lab and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It was conducted to evaluate new malting barley varieties for agronomics, malt quality and brewing quality. Specific project goals are listed below:

  • Examine the performance of new malting varieties at different growing sites in Manitoba with optimized agronomic practices.
  • Investigate the barley selection rate for malting at harvest and test for barley quality and malting and brewing performance.
  • Identify the growing locations and best agronomic practices for the new malting varieties.

On-farm research trials, through MCA’s Research on the Farm (ROTF) program, were leveraged to complete this project. Producer co-operators, who are MCA members, were involved in trial establishment, treatment implementation and harvest. This research project wouldn’t have been possible without their involvement and participation.

Materials and Methods

Treatments: Two to five malting barley varieties were grown in randomized strip plots on the same field at each trial site, using crop management practices optimized based on site conditions. AAC Synergy was the check variety and was grown at each trial site. Management practices could differ between sites.

Table 1. Varieties seeded by year and the number of participating farms for each project year. Variety lodging and disease resistance data.

 

Year

Resistance*

Variety

2020

2021

2022

Lodging

LS

SBS

RR

NNB

SNB

SB

SR

FHB

AAC Synergy*

X

X

X

G

S

I

I

MR

R

R

MR

I

AAC Connect

X

X

X

G

S

R

MS

I

MR

MR

MR

MR

CDC Fraser

X

X

X

G

R

MR

MS

MR

MR

R

MR

I

CDC Copper

X

X

X

G

I

MR

MR

MR

MR

I

I

MS

AAC Goldman

X

 

 

F

MS

I

S

I

R

I

I

MR

CDC Bow

X

 

 

G

S

I

MS

S

MR

I

MR

I

CDC Churchill

 

X

X

G

MS

MR

–

MR

MR

I

MR

MS

AAC Prairie

 

X

X

F

S

MR

–

MR

I

I

MR

I

# of locations

5

5

6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: Check variety. LS, loose smut; SB-S, surface-borne smut; RR, root rot; NNB, netted net blotch; SNB, spotted net blotch; SB, spot blotch; SR, stem rust; FHB, Fusarium Head Blight; G, good; F, fair; S, susceptible; MS, moderately susceptible; MR, moderately resistant; R, resistant.
*Resistance data were obtained from Seed Manitoba 2023 Variety Selection and Grower Source Guide.

Variables measured: Measurements were taken throughout the entire malting barley value-chain. These included barley quality and yields, malt processing quality, malt quality and brewing quality. Specific tests are listed below:

  • Barley Quality and Quantity: yield, Deoxynivalenol (DON), protein, germination energy (GE), water sensitivity (WS), thousand kernel weight (TKW), plumpness, stirring number (SN).
  • Malt Processing Quality: malt DON, chit, steep out, acrospire length
  • Malt Quality: malt moisture, friability, fine extract, coarse extract, F/C difference, soluble protein, Kolbach, diastatic power, α-amylase, β-glucan, colour, viscosity, Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN).
  • Brew Quality: overnight apparent extract, overnight alcohol by volume, conversion time, attenuated limit, wort maltotriose, wort maltrose, wort glucose, wort fructose.

Select Results

Figure 1. Top: Mean malting barley yield (bars) and protein data (line) from the 2020-2022 growing seasons. Bottom: Mean malting barley germination (bars) and plumpness data (line) mean values from the 2020-2022 growing seasons.

Figure 2. Top: Mean β-glucan values averaged from 2020-2022 project years and sites. Bottom: Mean DON levels averaged from 2020-2022 project years and sites.

Key Points

  • All new malting barley varieties demonstrated the ability to make malting grade under optimum crop management strategies and a variety of weather conditions. All varieties yielded well, with values ranging between 81-104 bu/ac when averaged across all project years and sites.
  • CDC Copper did not meet GE thresholds of 95 per cent when data was averaged across all sites and project years. CDC Copper did meet GE thresholds at individual site-years.
  • 2021 had the highest malting barley selection rate, with 91 per cent of samples selected. 2022 had the lowest selection rate, with only 62.5 per cent of samples selected.
  • No significant differences in DON levels were found between varieties when averaged across all project years and sites (Figure 2).
  • No significant differences in yield were found between varieties when data was averaged across all project years and sites. Although, yield differences were found at individual trial sites.
  • CDC Copper and AAC Goldman were both found to have water sensitivity values above desirable levels (data not shown). Water sensitivity indicates the percentage of kernels that will “drown” if over-steeped in the malting process.
  • No significant differences were found between varieties for malt processing and quality parameters, such β-glucan (Figure 2.)
  • Variety did not impact the brewing process or beer quality, with no significant differences found in beer quality indicators when data was averaged across sites and project year (data not shown).

More detailed data on sites and growing seasons can be found in the full project report. More information on individual sites and the MCA’s ROTF program can be found here. Use the annual Seed Manitoba Variety Selection and Grower Source Guide when selecting varieties. Finally, consult grain buyers to determine if there are opportunities to market malting varieties.

Funding for this project was from CAP Ag action Manitoba and MCA. This document is a synopsis of the key results and findings from the Assessment of New Malting Barley Varieties for Production and Malting Selection in Manitoba full project report, assembled by the CMBTC.

The value and importance of seed testing

Coles Ag on October 4, 2023

If you are planning on saving seed for next year’s crop, seed testing should be considered, as weather conditions from the year the seed was grown, such as precipitation and heat, affect seed quality. Seed testing in the fall can provide growers with useful information that can save them both time and money – allowing them to plan for next year’s growing season with greater certainty.

Typically, seed tests evaluate variables such as germination, thousand kernel weight, physical purity, and vigour. As well, some labs can conduct seed-borne disease testing. Understanding these variables is important when making seeding management decisions, as seeds with poor germination and vigour or those that contain seed diseases can negatively impact crop establishment, uniformity and health. This will ultimately affect yield.

Information collected from seed tests is also integral to achieving your desired plant population, as thousand kernel weight should be used to determine optimal seeding rates. Additionally, understanding seed germination and vigour can give you a better gauge of expected seed survival and how the seed will perform in the spring.

Germination tests evaluate the percentage of seeds likely to develop or germinate under optimal moisture, light and temperature conditions. Vigour tests are similar but provide information regarding the ability for seeds to produce normal seedings in suboptimal conditions. Cold stress tests are often used to determine this, although there are multiple vigour testing protocols used by labs. Vigour testing is important, as seed vigour usually drops before the seeds ability to germinate does. More information about calculating seeding rates can be found here.

It’s important to note that long periods of storage can affect seed quality. For example, both germination and vigour levels can decrease during winter storage. Therefore, secondary seed testing in early spring may also be necessary. More information about seed testing and seed test interpretation can be found here.

Below are Seeds Canada accredited seed testing labs in Manitoba. Accredited labs can also be found across the Canadian Prairies. Growers should contact labs to understand the services they provide:

 

Most seeded winter wheat varieties in Manitoba – 2023

Coles Ag on September 12, 2023

Spring agronomy resource roundup – cereals

mca2022dev on March 29, 2023

Post-registration assessment of fusarium head blight resistance in spring wheat, barley, and winter wheat

mca2022dev on March 3, 2023

MCA-funded research at the 2022 Manitoba Agronomists’ Conference

mca2022dev on January 6, 2023

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