Stripe Rust Spreading to Western Washington

WSU researchers found stripe rust on 40 percent of the winter wheat fields they surveyed in Skagit County last week, while barley stripe rust was only found in a couple of rows.

In Grant, Douglas, Lincoln and Whitman counties, Dr. Xianming Chen says they found some fields with less than one percent infection to nearly every plant hit.

Chen says the weather has been and will continue to be conducive to the spread of stripe rust and that fungicide applications should be made to any variety that has a stripe rust rating of 4 or higher.

Whitman County seemed to have the best stripe rust situation of any of the counties they inspected.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail krounce@cherrycreekradio.com.