Smut Update
Smut has been identified in the following regions:- Innisfail (February 2008)
- Proserpine (December 2007)
- Maryborough
- Ingham
- Mackay
- Isis
- Bundaberg
Smut spores have been identified in the following regions, but no cane crops have been identified as having been infected with the disease in these areas as yet.
- Condong - New South Wales (April 2008)
- Mossman
- Burdekin
NEWS: POSTED FEBRUARY 2008
Innisfail latest victim of sugarcane smut disease
BSES Limited today confirmed sugarcane smut disease had been found in the Innisfail district.
Eoin Wallis, BSES Chief Executive Officer said infected stools were found in a fourth ratoon field of sugarcane variety Q166A by a grower in the Mundoo West area. The grower reported the find to the Innisfail Babinda Cane Productivity Services (IBCPS) yesterday morning.
“BSES Principal Research Scientist, Dr Rob Magarey travelled immediately to the farm with BSES Senior Extension Officer Neil Judd and IBCPS co-ordinator Jason Benn,” Mr Wallis said.
“The symptoms were confirmed to be a primary infection of sugarcane smut disease.”
“Being a wind borne fungal disease, there was a high chance it would spread to the Innisfail area, but it is still unfortunate such an incursion has now occurred.” he said.
Mr Wallis praised Innisfail growers for their vigilance in inspecting cane crops and said “attention by dedicated farmers has been central to the early detection of many smut infections in the state”.
Smut disease has recently intensified in the Herbert district, approximately 150 km to the south of Innisfail.
Mr Wallis also stated that the Tully sugar district located between the Herbert and Innisfail regions remains with no recorded sightings of smut.
Innisfail industry representatives have already met in the Innisfail region to activate the district’s smut incursion plan. Meetings have been planned to fully brief all farmers and industry representatives on issues such as availability of resistant varieties and the potential impact of the disease on the district.
Growers in the Innisfail area are asked to inspect fields of susceptible sugarcane varieties for signs for smut and report any suspect findings to local BSES or IBCPS staff.
Susceptible sugarcane varieties include: Q138, Q166A, Q167A, Q174A, Q181A, Q186A, Q187A, Q198A, Q201A, Q204A, Q216A, Q217A, Q218A, and Q229A.
Mr Wallis recommended growers consult their local BSES and IBCPS staff to discuss individual varietal selection options. He emphasised that in other smut-infested areas, the main control strategy has been an orderly replacement of susceptible varieties with smut-resistant or intermediate-resistant sugarcane varieties.
“Smut can take some time to reach damaging levels and in most cases growers have time to manage the replacement of susceptible varieties with minimal disruption to their farm,” he said.
In the Innisfail district recommended varieties include: Q172A, Q199A, Q200A, Q208A, Q219A, Q231A, and KQ228A.
Intermediate-susceptible varieties such as Q220A may be grown if care is taken with plant sources and they are not exposed to high smut pressure from surrounding blocks.
NEWS: POSTED 22 NOVEMBER 2007
Meeting called as Herbert smut worsens
In response to the increase in sugarcane smut disease in the Herbert, BSES Limited will host a public meeting to discuss sugarcane smut disease and resistant varieties. Principal research, development and extension organisation BSES said recent dry soil conditions was one of the factors contributing to the increase in sugarcane smut disease in the Herbert region. Greg Shannon, BSES Senior Extension Officer said at least 17 of the 26 Herbert region productivity zones had at least one farm with smut. “We are identifying 1-2 farms per day showing the classic smut whip symptoms,” Mr Shannon said. “Approximately 600 hectares are affected by sugarcane smut in the Herbert.”
“BSES is undertaking surveillance in the Stone River, Lannercost, and Macknade areas as well as in sugarcane varieties Q157, Q158, and Q174A.” The public information meeting will commence at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, 28 November at the BSES Herbert office, 181 Fairford Road.
“All industry members are welcome to attend.”
STATE OF PLAY
There are currently over 100 Queensland properties which have found the fungal sugarcane disease smut in their sugarcane fields (Ingham region, Mackay region & Bundaberg/Childers Region). Spores have been found in the Maryborough area and the Burdekin
Questions and Answers - Posted August 2007
With all the media coverage about smut of late, Australian Canegrower gets the facts from BSES expert Barry Croft, Principal Researcher, Farming Systems
It is now greater than 12 months since smut was first detected in the Bundaberg/Isis regions. Is the disease progressing in these areas as you expected?
Smut is spreading in the Bundaberg/Isis region, which was predicted. It is important to note that severe losses are only present on a few farms at this stage, but we do expect that losses will increase over the next few years. We knew there would be an increase of smut across previously affected farms and that the build-up within infested blocks was inevitable. It is likely that smut is present on the majority of farms in the Isis mill area and perhaps 20-30 percent of farms in the Bundaberg mill areas. New infested farms are being reported on a regular basis. BSES is conducting random sampling to estimate the spread of the disease and growers are reporting new finds to the BSES and Sugar Services companies. In many of the new findings there are only a small number of whips on a few blocks but this year’s experience suggests that these initial incursions on a farm will spread in coming years. As the disease becomes more widespread and the number of heavily infested blocks increases the rate of spread of the disease will increase.
Is smut spreading as you predicted between farms within the other infested regions?
Smut is spreading in Herbert and Central regions. There are now 25 known infested farms in the Herbert and 16 in the Central region. No detailed surveillance has been conducted in the Herbert or Central regions in 2007 so the true situation in these regions is not fully understood. Smut will spread further in these districts, the spread that is occurring in the Bundaberg/Isis region is a warning for the other regions. We predict that the spread that is being experienced this year in the Bundaberg/Isis area will occur in the Herbert and Central region.
There have been no additional regions found with smut since last November. Does this surprise you?
Yes and no….it has been hard to predict how and when smut will appear in other regions. There is some evidence from spore trapping that it might be present in the Burdekin and Maryborough regions already but we have been unable to confirm the presence of smut at this stage. Growers need to understand though, that they will eventually get the disease, it is just a matter of how quickly they will get it. As the disease spreads in the infested regions, the risk of the disease spreading to all regions increases.
What do you think the spore trap results for the Burdekin and Maryborough mean?
The spore traps collect smut spores from the air. It is possible that the spore traps may be detecting low levels of spores that have blown in from the infested regions, however they may also mean that smut is present in a field close by. To confirm that smut is present the diseased plants have to be found. Further spore trapping is being conducted to try to pin point where the smut might be present in the Burdekin and Maryborough. The results are a good warning that smut will arrive but it isn’t there yet. Spores are not smut, that’s important to recognise, the results are good reminders to think about changing over to resistant varieties. This is by no means a panic situation.
The Burdekin area is in the best position to deal with smut of any other cane growing area in Queensland. Firstly, they have had good warning and good reminder through spore trapping results, and secondly, the Burdekin region has 40-60 percent of their crop already established as high yielding smut intermediate to resistant varieties.
The Burdekin have been proactive, and they need to move forward even more. Growers in this region have ready access to high yielding resistant varieties and they need to, if they haven’t done so already, get them planted.
If smut appeared in the Burdekin tomorrow it isn’t instant devastation. This is misinformed information, the disease takes a while to build up, a couple of years, and we have time in every region and especially in the Burdekin to counteract any effect smut could have.
What is your feeling for how variety replacement is going?
I think in all areas growers are doing a really good job in making the decision to get resistant varieties onto their farms. There are some very good resistant varieties out there and they are improving all the time. We have a program underway to release more varieties over time and we are constantly working to develop even better high yielding smut resistant varieties.
What do you think the industry will look like in 5 years time?
All overseas cane growing areas have faced smut, all of these areas have been in the exact position we are in right now.
They have been through it and they came out stronger. Smut made them change to resistant varieties. They have had to change their varieties over, and now smut is a small issue, if not an issue at all.
Through the work of BSES we already have a number of high yielding smut resistant varieties and BSES has increased their efforts to provide even better smut resistant varieties in the coming years. Smut will become a minor issue to our cane growing industry in the future.
All areas have access to a number of high yielding smut resistant varieties right now, and these varieties will only improve through our breeding program.
Growers should start planning to change to resistant varieties but they should not panic. Smut will spread to all regions and growers should start preparing now.
The Watson Report
The Watson Smut Report was tabled in Parliament by Minister Tim Mulherin on 20 February 2007. After speaking to industry representatives in regional areas, he subsequently met with the CEO’s of CANEGROWERS, BSES and the Australian Sugar Milling Council. Dr Watson said that his trip through the industry had given him greater insight into the industry and he particularly recognises its similarities and diversities. He recognised there was a diversity of views and appreciated the candid and direct input from all regions.
Click here to read the CANEGROWERS media release (20 February 2007)
Click here to download the Watson Report from the DPI&F website (2 MB)
Sugarcane smut district activities
Smut surveillance has continued in Queensland and New South Wales. Reinspections are reoccuring across sugarcane growing areas, and growers have taken up the gauntlet, inspecting their crop as they go about their working day. CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
The finding of sugarcane smut outside of the original incursion area in Bundaberg/Childers, means that the disease is now regarded as potentially established and widespread in Queensland. Any further sightings will be communicated as soon as possible to growers, industry, and media outlets by the industry bodies CANEGROWERS and BSES Limited.
The confirmed finding of smut in the second area of Mackay took the incursion from a single- to a multi-point entry incursion. There is no evidence to suggest that smut has escaped the Bundaberg/Childers quarantined area, rather the Mackay incursion probably occurred separately. A definitive identification of the source of the Mackay incursion is being attempted using DNA fingerprinting. However, it is unlikely that we will fully understand how both incursions started.
The Mackay finding changed the focus of the response from one of containment under stringent biosecurity guidelines, to one focussed on management of the disease – with varietal replacement high on the list of priorities to be considered by regional strategies that link in with the broader State strategy. Economic containment, minimising loss
The sugarcane industry is now in transition from an aggressive biosecurity strategy based on control and containment to one of industry management and economic recovery.
A task force led by Dr David Watson investigated the economic impact of the disease and identified measures to facilitate economic recovery. CANEGROWERS CEO, Ian Ballantyne, has joined with ASMC and BSES Limited in active involvement on the Advisory Group in this process, alongside their relevant State and Federal Government counterparts.
This will include cost-benefit analysis work on different varieties of cane and identifying the most effective use of resources to support the economic recovery process.
Local sugarcane industries around the State have been encouraged to develop and implement recovery plans that best suit their local circumstances.
Every region needs to be prepared with plans for responding to the potential discovery of smut in their region.
The Queensland Government will honour its commitment to pay $2,000 per hectare for the plough-out of infested blocks in the Bundaberg-Childers district, under the voluntary plough-out agreements with the affected property owners.
However, with the change in focus from a detect-and-destroy program to industry management and economic recovery, growers may now choose to harvest the infested blocks instead of proceeding with plough-out.
Growers who had started plough-out before Friday, 10 November, can now choose instead to harvest the rest of their blocks, but will only receive $2,000 per hectare for the blocks that were ploughed–out prior to this date.
Growers, however, cannot now choose to plough-out some of their remaining infected blocks and not others. If they choose to continue to destroy infected blocks after 10 November, then they must destroy all of the infected blocks identified on their property to receive the $2000 per hectare payment.
No further voluntary destruction agreements will be established and there will be no extensions to existing agreements for any new detection of smut-infested blocks under the economic recovery approach now being adopted.
In line with existing regulations, machinery and plant movement controls between sugarcane Pest Quarantine Areas will continue, while additional controls implemented within the Bundaberg-Childers Pest Quarantine Area (PQA5) since the detection of the sugarcane smut outbreak will be revoked. No quarantine or movement control measures will be applied within Mackay or other areas if smut was to be found elsewhere.
Surveillance around the state will continue because early detection of the disease will influence growers’ decisions in relation to the introduction of smut-resistant cane varieties. This surveillance is being coordinated by BSES and is being undertaken by local productivity services groups.
BSES Limited is accelerating its work on supplying smut-resistant cane varieties. KEEPING UP TO DATE WITH SMUT - COMMUNICATIONS
The State Government has officially handed over the reins for communication of smut-related information to industry – BSES Limited and CANEGROWERS. We will now resume the process of communication used during the Bundaberg/Isis incursion, as detailed below.
Website: News, including the latest sightings, will be added to the smut update page on www.canegrowers.com.au and www.bses.org.au. There is a button on the front page of each that will take you straight there. We are now able to report sightings as soon as they happen, but we are required to specify that we are awaiting scientific confirmation of these findings.
Smut Updates (breaking news): BSES Limited and CANEGROWERS will circulate a joint Smut Update once a significant finding is confirmed. These updates will be signed off by the relevant industry partners. This system helps to streamline communication and helps stem the issue of people being sent a stream of emails throughout the day. The updates will be posted on www.bses.org.au smut page immediately after release.
Media Releases (breaking news): Media Releases on smut will be issued to inform media about local breaking news by BSES and CANEGROWERS at regional level. State-wide media releases will be issued for news that has broader implications for the sugarcane industry at large.
Advice
Look & tell, but don’t touch: Growers should remain vigilant for smut when carrying out farming activities. Any suspect signs of the disease should be reported immediately to your local BSES office, local productivity board, or to the Smut Hotline 1800 303 310. It is very important that growers do not touch the fungus whip, as this will spread the disease further. All infected plants should be marked so they can be easily located and left in place for BSES or productivity officers to inspect. Any contaminated clothing should be washed in hot water to kill the spores – boots and hats should be sprayed with disinfectant. Think you have seen sugarcane smut on your property? Sugarcane smut is a notifiable disease under the Queensland Plant Protection Regulation. If you think you have the disease please do not touch or move the plant. Call the Sugarcane Smut Hotline on 1800 303 310 or contact your local BSES Limited office. More information Find our more about sugarcane smut by visiting the BSES website, which has an updated information sheet on sugarcane smut. 