DONcast®

The DONcast® model was developed to provide wheat producers with a means to predict deoxynivalenol toxin (DON) accumulation levels for better efficiency in spray decisions. WIN produces a forecast of DON levels at Stage 59 of the Zadoks system (75% of the heads in a canopy completely emerged from flag leaf). The DON predictions use weather forecast data, which is then supplemented with actual data from additional weather stations.

The accuracy of weather forecasts is less than perfect, and hence the reason that we have adopted the site-specific DONcast® approach. With this calculator, producers can try different forecast weather scenarios. DON predictions for individual fields may vary depending on the wheat variety, crop rotation, tillage, heading date, and local weather conditions.