–by Dr. Jeff Whitworth and Dr. Holly Schwarting
Frequent rain over the last few weeks has played havoc with volunteer wheat control. Each rain seems to bring another flush of volunteer.
This is an ideal situation for most wheat pests, i.e. Hessian flies, winter grain mites, wheat curl mite, and the wheat aphids (mainly greenbugs, bird cherry oat and English grain) as well as the pathogens they may vector. Thus, please remember to destroy all volunteer at least 2 weeks prior to planting to help manage these pests.