In severe cases a leaf spotting not related to obvious leaf diseases is evident. Rotations Sound rotations should be an integral part of every farming operation. Operations with rotational plans that consider disease, insect, and weed pest pressures will be the most productive. Long-term studies show that wheat does best when following soybean, sugarbeet, sunflower, corn, flax and barley, in that order. It is not a good practice to grow continuous wheat.
Pest problems escalate in continuous wheat, increasing costs for that year and following years.
The best way to manage disease pressure in wheat is rotation to a crop that is not a common host to prevalent wheat diseases. Other factors which influence rotation decisions are herbicide residues from previous crops, crop insurance, and commodity pricing. The organic matter levels of many soils in North Dakota have decreased to around half of what they were when first cropped. Fallow was adopted early in this century as much to take advantage of extra nitrogen breakdown from this organic matter as from water accumulation. In many areas of western North Dakota, there is little advantage to fallow either for water retention or nitrate accumulation.