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We will have two wheat and one barley experiment sites within the Red River Valley representing different agroecosystems. The objectives of these experiments will be to identify best disease management approaches for producing wheat and barley in the Minnesota Red River Valley and to determine if strategies are economically sustainable for producers.
Approach: Research plots consisting of adapted 2-row (Conlon) and 6-row (Tradition, Robust, and M-122) spring malting barley varieties will be planted at two locations in Minnesota. Field locations are situated in the Red River Valley to take advantage of different growing environments. Each location will have weather data collection equipment that record hourly air temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation. Cultural information will be collected at each location (e.g. previous crop residue) and no irrigation or artificial inoculum will be provided. The crop stage will be monitored regularly. At 2-3 weeks after heading (approx. dough stage, Feekes 11.2), disease ratings will be taken from at least 50 heads per plot. At harvest, grain will be subsampled from each plot and analyzed for DON concentration.