Fusarium Ear Blight - US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative

US Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative

The goal of the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI) is to develop as quickly as possible effective control measures that minimize the threat of Fusarium head blight (scab), including the reduction of mycotoxins, to the producers, processors, and consumers of wheat and barley.

Since 1997, federal, state, and private sector scientists have worked closely with growers, input providers, millers, and food processors from across the country to design and fund just such a system. The result of these efforts is the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI). In one sense, the Initiative is a self-organized "contact group" on scab. The goal of the U.S. Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative is to develop as quickly as possible effective control measures that minimize the threat of Fusarium head blight (scab) to the producers, processors, and consumers of wheat and barley. The USWBSI is guided by a Steering Committee that includes growers, farm organizations, food processors (e.g., millers, bakers, pasta manufacturers, and brewers), scientists (from Land Grant universities, USDA, and private companies), and consumer groups. Nine members of the Steering Committee also serve on an Executive Committee. The Steering and Executive committees are advised by a series of six research committees composed of recruited volunteers from the scientific leaders of the U.S. wheat and barley research communities. The Initiative’s Networking and Facilitation Office, based at Michigan State University, facilitates the work of these committees. That office also promotes communication among the varied parties interested in scab, and represents the Initiative’s only ‘fixed’ asset.