The neck region of the stem below the head usually is brown. Th ere may be brown streaks on the lower culms. Heads do not fill well and often ripen prematurely. Tillers are usually stunted. All the tillers on a plant will be affected, but adjacent plants are often completely free of symptoms.
Plants seem to occur randomly in the field with no apparent pattern.
Wheat, corn, barley, oats, some bromegrasses, and some Panicums are known hosts. We have no information on the source of the virus for Kansas wheat fields. It could be coming via migratory leafhoppers from far away or it could be local. In Kansas, most infections appear to occur in the fall, but symptoms are hard to detect until mid- spring. Early planting probably favors fall infections.