Agriculture Commons^™

Steam Treated Grains Trial, Heather Darby, Rory Malone, Hillary Emick, Haley Jean

Northwest Crops & Soils Program

Locally grown grains, such as wheat and barley, are in high demand in the Northeast for both livestock feed and human consumption. One major challenge that grain growers encounter is infection by fungal diseases, such as loose smut and the infection of Fusarium head blight (FHB). Loose smut appear on grains as “smutted grain heads”, which are filled with spores that appear black or brown. The spore masses replace the grain heads, so that fewer or no viable kernals are left for harvest. Smutted heads are caused by the fungal pathogen genus Ustilago. Ustilago nuda commonly infects barley, while …