Yellow rust is starting to be seen in winter wheat as the mild autumn weather encourages the spread of the cereal disease.

Reports of the disease are being made in southern England and the Midlands and also in East Anglia especially on susceptible varieties, while there are a few sightings of brown rust.

Faye Ritchie, plant pathologist with crop scientist group ADAS says the early appearance of the disease is not surprising given the mild weather, and it serves as a warning for growers to check their crops.

“The fact that it’s out there and people can find it is something to be aware of for next year. We rely on frosts to reduce yellow rust and need to be monitoring fields ahead of the T0 spray timing,” Dr Ritchie says.

She advises using a suitable triazole fungicide at the T0 early spring timing against rust, while adding that chlorothalonil is important for the control of septoria.

Syngenta field technical manager Simon Roberts says that yellow rust can reduce yields by up to 50% and brown rust by up to 20%.

He suggests growers should be thinking about a triazole-chlorothalonil spray at the T0 stage and even consider treatment earlier if infection is severe.