Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

WERA 97 met June 18-19, 2013 in Pendleton, Oregon in a joint session with Western Wheat Workers. Following an update on the discovery of transgenic wheat in Oregon, state reports were given by both WWW and WERA participants. WERA 97 Reports were given by Washington (Tm Murray), Oregon (Mike Flowers and Chris Mundt), Montana (Alan Dyer), Idaho (Juliet Marshall), as well as from the industrial participants Syngenta, Limagrain, Dow AgroSciences and WestBred/Monsanto. Both groups went on field trips to the Hermiston research nurseries the afternoon of June 18th and to the Ruggs Research site and the CBARC Research Station on June 19th. The WERA 97 business meeting was held early afternoon on June 18th. There was discussion on how to improve participation, which is enhanced by meeting with other groups. It was decided to meet in Idaho in summer of 2014 and will communicate with NCERA to see if they would be interested in meeting jointly.

1) In Kansas, determining the impact of fungicides on wheat diseases is necessary to develop accurate chemical control recommendations. Extension publications were developed and refined to help producers make more efficient use of fungicides. We are currently developing web-based tools to deliver this information. 2) A multi-state effort to predict epidemics of Fusarium head blight (FHB) continued during the 2012-growing season. This prediction effort includes web-based tools, which display daily estimates of disease risk for 30 states. Commentary developed by a disease specialist in each state is displayed along with the risk maps. Commentary is also distributed via an FHB Alert System. Users of the FHB prediction models and the FHB Alert System where surveyed in 2012. The survey results included input from 342 respondents and indicated that 62% of these users were either farmers or farm advisors. More than 68% of the users applied the information directly on their farm, or used it to make recommendations about disease management to others. In 2012, 96% of the users considered the information to be of high or moderate value for their farm operations and businesses. A subset of questions targeting the influence of the information suggests that more than 88% of the users experienced a moderate or great improvement in their awareness of the disease risk in their area. The results also showed that the information influenced disease management decisions directly for 33% of the respondents, and motivated another 30% to seek advice from others. 3) WERA-97 interactions resulted in joint WSU-OSU field trials to screen for resistance to the newly discovered soil-borne wheat mosaic virus in the PNW. These efforts resulted in the identification of one locally adapted variety with resistance, and a breeding line that also was resistant and released as a variety owing to its resistance and favorable agronomic traits. 4) Chris Mundt and Tim Murray are currently completing a review chapter on the biology and management of Cephalosorium stripe, a disease of great importance in the PNW and one that has never before been the subject of a review. 5) Resistance of Zymoseptoria triciti, causal agent of Septoria tritici blotch, to strobilurin fungicide was discovered in Oregon. This is the first such discovery in North America. 6) Testing of fungicides on wheat and barley for efficacy to Fusarium head blight was conducted as part of a national cooperative effort and recommendations of the best management practices are made available to growers through the US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI) and MAES websites. 7) Varietal development continues in southern Idaho (Dr. Jianli Chen) and Northern Idaho (Dr. Jack Brown), coordinated with the extension varietal testing (Dr. Juliet Marshall) and end-use quality testing (Katherine OBrien at the Aberdeen R&E Center). Testing of fungicidal and insecticidal seed treatments, foliar fungicides, and plant growth regulators continue at Aberdeen and on-farm. Screening for resistance to Fusarium crown rot in spring wheat is occurring in spring wheat and barley in a dedicated plot in Aberdeen. 8) Joint research with Oregon State University continues in the screening of wheat and barley varieties for resistance to cereal cyst nematode. Research trails are in Idaho (St. Anthony), Oregon and Washington State.