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Rust trap nurseries have been established at eight sites for the 2008 season, to monitor the development of yellow rust and brown rust and to get an indication of which races are threatening wheat varieties. As previously, we have sites in Lincolnshire, Cambridge, Suffolk Essex, Yorkshire and Devon, with two new sites – one near Newport in Shropshire (courtesy of JB Agriculture) and the other near the Wash in Lincolnshire (Syngenta).

Each trap nursery consists of small plots of wheat varieties grown without fungicide treatment. The varieties, many of which are no longer grown commercially, have been chosen as indicators of yellow rust and brown rust races. They include some highly susceptible varieties that are vulnerable to attack by all races. These are useful because they pick up rust early in the season before it spreads to other varieties.