Western Australia

Your best defence to minimise the impact of rust is to have a rust management plan. Use the below tools as your armoury this season.

To view the resistance rating of your variety, check out these handy tables

Western Australian rust resistance ratings

Rust Management Alerts:

WA: Stem rust found in oat volunteers in Williams shire
Friday May 6 2016

Brett Jenkinson (Elders) has found stem rust in oat volunteers in the Williams shire. Five plants were found infected. The oats are at the stem elongation stage. Plant pathologist Geoff Thomas says that oat stem rust survives on both domestic and wild oats and is favoured by moist warm (18-30°C) weather. So in years like this where autumn rains have generated green bridge regrowth, growers might see stem rust in crop or wild oat regrowth prior to seeding. Read the full article in PestFax.

Key WA Publications for 2016:

The Rust Bust Fact Sheet – WA – The Rust Bust Fact Sheet_WA

Wheat Disease Ratings – WA – Click here to view the 2016 wheat disease ratings.

Barley Variety Guide – WA – Click here to view the 2016 Guide released by DAFWA together with GRDC.

WA Links and Resources:

Set a bookmark for DAFWA’s Crop Disease landing page www.agric.wa.gov.au/cropdisease. It offers disease forecasts, updates and links; fungicide information and disease management publications.

PestFax Reporter lets you quickly and easily report observations of pests and diseases in your paddocks to the Western Australian PestFax editor.

PestFax newsletters are an informative and interactive service covering diseases and pests threatening crops and pastures throughout the grain belt of Western Australia. Or you can view the map here.

Your Western Australian rust contacts:

Need more local information or need to identify rust in your crop?
Please contact the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia’s Plant Pathology team:

Geoff Thomas
Central Agricultural Region
Phone: 08 9368 3262
Email: geoff.j.thomas@agric.wa.gov.au

Ciara Beard
Northern Agricultural Region
Phone: 08 9956 8504
Email: ciara.beard@agric.wa.gov.au

Kith Jayasena
Southern Agricultural Region
Phone: 08 9892 8477
Email: kithsiri.jayasena@agric.wa.gov.au

Send rust samples to:
University of Sydney
Australian Rust Survey
Reply Paid 88076
Narellan NSW 2567

Latest News

Aussies help in South Asian rust management training
Leading Australian rust expert Professor Robert Park, from the University of Sydney, joined colleagues from Pakistan, Nepal, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Mexico & the US in Nepal recently for the Sixth South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation Wheat Rust Monitoring & Disease Management Course. The workshop was designed to foster regional collaboration and equip a new generation of South Asian scientists with the tools and knowledge to manage the threat of wheat rusts. Read more.

Growers urged to keep paddocks 'Free for February'
Growers are being urged to keep paddocks ‘Free for February’ to minimise the risk of rust and other diseases such as powdery mildew, and pests such as mites or aphids, surviving on a green bridge. Media Releases

New wheat leaf rust found in WA
A pathotype of the wheat leaf rust pathogen which has previously been present in eastern Australia has this year, for the first time, been detected in Western Australia. Read more: Rust Alerts/Reports

Stripe rust situation mid-spring
Australia: Stripe rust situation at mid-spring Friday September 25, 2015
Since the last Cereal Rust Report, stripe rust has been reported in crops from all wheat producing states except Tasmania. Infections were noticed within a few weeks of each other in Qld, southern NSW, SA & WA, suggesting the disease started in four distinct locations in 2015. With stripe rust present in most states all growers are reminded to monitor crops and submit samples of any rusts found to the Australian Cereal Rust Survey. Full details in the Cereal Rust Report (volume 13, issue 3).

Aust-wide rust reports highlight importance of crop monitoring
All three types of rust – stem rust, stripe rust and leaf rust – have been found in crops of wheat, highlighting the importance of crop monitoring and early management. Leaf rust has also been found in barley crops, and stem rust and crown rust in oat crops. Click here to find out more.