Disease management in organic grain crops: What works, what doesn’t

We're excited to share the presentations from the 2023 OGRAIN Winter Conference! Learn about upcoming events, including field days, on our website www.ograin.cals.wisc.edu. There you can also get advice from farmers, researchers and industry experts by joining our listserv.
Want some insight into the best methods for fighting disease in an organic system? This session will share results from field trials which tested different control methods for major diseases in corn, wheat, and soybean. Trials were conducted in Wisconsin and Indiana to test input-based, genetic, and agronomic disease control methods.
Damon Smith is a Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist at UW-Madison. Damon is also the director of the Nutrient and Pest Management Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Damon’s responsibilities include research and extension efforts that focus on improving our understanding of the epidemiology of plant pathogens in order to develop better control recommendations for the sustainable management of field and forage crop diseases. Damon is a native of Western New York State. He earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences at the State University of New York, College at Geneseo, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from North Carolina State University. Prior to Damon’s appointment at UW he was an assistant professor and extension specialist at Oklahoma State University
Kelly Debbink is a master’s student in Plant Pathology in Damon Smith’s lab. Her research focuses on providing organic farmers with disease management recommendations by conducting field trials on disease management techniques. She became interested in plant pathology after working on a small, organic farm and witnessing disease struggles firsthand. Kelly is originally from Pennsylvania, where she earned a B.S. in Animal Biotechnology & Conservation at Delaware Valley University. Before returning to school, she worked in conservation in the southwestern US. Kelly also spent time in the brewing industry, which deepens her interest in grain production.