Scabbed Barley and Oats and their Effect on Various Classes of Livestock

Abstract

The disease of barley commonly called scab is more than a century old, and today is prevalent in European countries where it is known as “intoxicating grain” or “drunken grain.” Although in this country several outbreaks have occurred in approximately decade intervals, none have occurred in such vast proportions as the one of the fall of 1928. The recurrence of this epidemic in 1929 presented a series of problems involving the farmer, the grain trader, and the feeder alike. Scab, or Fusarium blight, is a disease of wheat, barley, rye, and oats, caused chiefly by a minute fungous parasite identified as gibberella saubinetii (Mont.) Sacc. To study the feeding value of scabbed barley and oats and to determine methods for the farm utilization of these diseased grains, the Department of Animal Husbandry cooperating with the Office of Cereal Crops and Diseases, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. D. A. through the Wisconsin Department of Plant Pathology, an extensive series of experiments was planned involving all classes of livestock, including poultry.