Winter Wheat Virus Early Detection System
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July 1 2014 – September 30, 2014

Summer Volunteer Wheat virus diagnostics

Jacob A. Price, Charlie M. Rush, and Ron French

With the up and coming fall wheat season approaching, it is important to take actions to reduce the threat of wheat virus infection. Due to summer rains in many areas around Northern Texas, many producers will be taking advantage of soil moisture and planting early. It is critical to recognize that early planting increases your risk of virus infection so it is of the utmost importance to destroy all volunteer wheat near the planting site at least two weeks before planting. These late summer rains will likely increase the occurrence of volunteer wheat throughout the area and samples collected from Potter county have already been found to be infected by Wheat streak mosaic virus and High Plains virus.

If you have volunteer wheat in your area and would like to have it tested for virus presence please feel free to send samples to the diagnostics lab. Also, we will be conducting a survey in late October to determine early season virus presence in the Texas High Plains and ask that you collect samples from fields in your county for testing. Early virus detection will help you as producers better manage infected crops and to reduce losses due to these diseases.

Plant samples can be submitted to the Plant Diagnostics Clinic at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research center in Amarillo, TX for virus testing. For complete field testing samples of symptomatic tissue, including roots, should be collected from the north west, south west, north east, and south east areas of the field. A diagnostics sheet should be included with the samples and can be found at: Texas Plant Diagnostic Clinic (THPPDL).

Include the following information on the diagnostics form:

• Name of field owner and submitter
• Address including county
• Contact number
• Information about the field and location (GPS if possible)
• Any and all information included in the diagnostics form will be helpful in determining disease diagnosis