Break the Green Bridge: Protect Next Year’s Wheat

As we head toward wheat planting, now is the time to reduce the risk of wheat streak mosaic next spring.

Wheat streak mosaic was again a concern across Kansas in 2026, and wheat curl mite populations were reported to be high as the wheat crop matured. Those mites need living plants to survive between wheat crops, and volunteer wheat is one of their favorite hosts.

That volunteer wheat creates what we call the “green bridge.” Mites move from mature wheat onto volunteer plants during the summer, survive and reproduce there, and can then move into newly emerged wheat this fall—potentially carrying wheat streak mosaic, Triticum mosaic and High Plains wheat mosaic viruses with them.

What Can You Do?

Control volunteer wheat now. The goal isn’t simply to spray it—it needs to be completely dead long enough to break the green bridge. Traditionally, producers have been advised to have volunteer wheat dead for at least two weeks before planting, while current K-State recommendations also encourage a regional wheat-free window of approximately 30 days before the optimum planting period.

Avoid planting too early. Early-emerging wheat gives active mite populations more opportunity to move into the new crop. Fall virus infections are generally much more damaging than infections that occur later in the spring.

Work with your neighbors. Wheat curl mites can travel considerable distances on the wind, so volunteer wheat across the road can matter too. The more volunteer wheat we eliminate across an area, the better our chances of reducing disease pressure.

There is no rescue treatment once wheat becomes infected with wheat streak mosaic. Our best defense is prevention.

Control the volunteer. Break the green bridge. Give it time to die. Then plant at the right time.

— Dwayne