Black chaff is often confused with glume blotch. Black chaff is the only other disease that often causes awn banding like glume blotch. Lesions eventually turn brown or black and may be covered with drops of yellow bacterial exudate. It can be diagnosed fairly easily in the lab by looking for bacteria streaming from lesions. There are no black or brown speckles as with glume blotch.
Black chaff is rare in Kansas.
Genetic melanism, or head browning, also can be confused with glume blotch. Arkan' and the hard white wheat 'KS84HW196Exp' are two varieties that automatically exhibit brown streaks on the chaff. Melanism is best identified by knowing the reaction of the variety. It is also very uniform within and between heads whereas glume blotch lesions tend to be more randomly spaced. However, this virus disease typically attacks only a small percentage of plants in the field.