Wheat is an important crop in New York state.
In New York, winter wheat is grown on 120,000 to 150,000 acres annually, primarily in the western and central parts of the state, he said. But the scab is increasing as a threat to sustainable wheat production. Fortunately wet weather was not encountered during wheat flowering this year in New York, and preliminary estimates call for excellent yields of New York winter wheat in 1997. Food safety is also an issue with the scab, as products made from the infected grain could be contaminated by a mold by-product, a poison known as vomitoxin. Wilmar da Luz, Cornell Ph.D. '86, directs the project in Brazil and is working with Bergstrom.