Is That Crop Ripening or Is That Sclerotinia?

There are many reports of sclerotinia in parts of Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan. In some fields, there is a significant amount of sclerotinia (up to 95% incidence). As sclerotinia infection progresses, plants begin to senesce prematurely, which may make the field appear riper than it actually is. Always use seed colour change as the gauge for timing swathing. Plant or field colour change may only be the symptoms of sclerotinia infection. Don’t let the colour change of a small percentage of diseased plants affect the harvest timing of the whole field!