Wheat harvest date impacts both grain yield and quality. Delaying wheat harvest puts the crop at risk for increased disease, vomitoxin contamination, lodging, sprouting, and harvest loss. The biggest impact on wheat grain yield and quality seems to occur when the dry grain is re-wetted in the field prior to harvest. So, if you do see higher levels of scab in your field this year than we saw during our study, you will likely benefit from harvesting the grain early (18 to 20% moisture) and then drying it down. Leaving wheat in the field to dry-down increases the risk of re-wetting, which could increase vomitoxin contamination.
In addition to early harvest, combine settings can reduce head scab impacts. Consider increase the fan speed of your combine harvester to blow out scabby, lightweight grain. Our research showed that 5-10% of scab can be managed during harvest – increasing the fan speed will reduce FDK and vomitoxin and increase the test weight of the grain lot, all of which will lead to better overall grain quality, and consequently, lower price discounts.
For more details. https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/201918/head-scab-yield-don%E2%80%99t-delay-wheat-harvest-well%E2%80%A6if-weather
Updated: 7/5/2019