There were a few fields affected in 1999. The last big outbreaks of the disease were in 1984 and 1985. Strawbreaker causes direct yield losses due to shriveled seed on affected tillers. In addition, it causes lodging which makes harvest much more difficult. Early spring symptoms of strawbreaker are elliptical or eye-shaped lesions on the leaf sheaths near the soil line.
Lesions have light brown centers and dark margins.
Patches of dull, charcoal gray fungus may be visible on the outside of the stems. This is similar to Hessian fly damage, except Hessian fly usually causes breakage just above a node. Strawbreaker and Hessian fly can also be separated by looking at the stem bases. Strawbreaker produces dull, charcoal-gray patches of fungus on the lower stem. Although both diseases cause white heads, strawbreaker does not cause root rot and severe stunting like take-all.