The fungus, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici is hosted by cereals and some perennial grass species such as Common Couch, and is both soil and trash borne, so is able to survive between cereal crops. It infects the roots and in severe cases the stem base restricting uptake of water and nutrients, killing the roots which can lead to stunting, chlorosis, whiteheads, reduced yield and quality. This makes the disease the number one yield robber of cereals. Take-all has been shown to reduce yields of wheat by up to 4t/ha in severe cases, with 1-1.5t/ha losses being common in second/third wheats.

Related Information... Stem Disease Guide (.pdf 146k)

In assessing the risk of take-all and its management, (reviewed later), it is important to examine the current crop. Early symptoms of take-all include stunting and chlorosis of foliage and blackening of the roots, seen usually from March onwards depending on severity. Check again if whiteheads appear in early July, and understand the likely causes.

There are four diseases; True eyespot, Sharp eyespot, take-all and Fusarium that make up a stem-base disease complex. They can all cause whiteheads when infections are severe and all cause browning symptoms on the stem/ stem base. However, for management in the next crop the exact cause needs to be understood and checking a range of symptoms in detail is the only way. To get it wrong can be a costly mistake but correct identification is easy following the decision chart above.