Will foliar fungicides increase the quality
and yield of oats? Prophylactic fungicide applications are increasingly being recommended
to oat growers. Reports coming out of Manitoba suggest yield response
in oats to fungicides in the absence of crown rust. Growers need to know
if they are spending their money wisely. In this project we hope to provide
growers, using current cultivars and agronomic practices, with better
information on the timing and level of severity of crown rust infection
on oats that warrant a fungicide application. The second objective is
to provide growers with independent information on the benefits of a fungicide
application on oats in the absence of crown rust in their geographic area
and how it differs among regions in western Canada as you move from one
region to another. To do this, three agronomic practices were examined,
seeding date (mid May and early June), cultivar (AC Morgan, CDC Orrin,
CDC Boyer and Leggett) and fungicide use (Headline or no headline). The
study was conducted at 6 locations between Portage le Prairie, MB to Saskatoon,
SK every year for three years. Very preliminary conclusions indicate that
seeding date had the largest effect on yield and test weight. Benefits
from fungicides appear to be related to the cultivars susceptibility to
crown rust when crown rust is present. Under normal growing conditions
benefits from fungicides have been limited in the absence of crown rust.
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