To assess the impact of the new strobilurin fungicides on disease management in wheat and determine whether the likelihood of fungicide response can be linked to specific timings, disease and plant available water.

Fungicides were not cost effective in the Birchip and Murtoa wheat trials, despite the late appearance of stripe rust at Murtoa. The new strobilurin fungicides conferred no significant yield advantages over the triazole product Folicur, a feature probably linked to the dry conditions during grain fill. Unlike barley at the same sites, there was no indication that strobilurin treatments conferred any prolonged green leaf retention.