The goal of my research/extension program is to improve the management of crop diseases affecting food grain and forage production systems in New York. Educational programs are aimed at increasing the plant pathology expertise of extension educators and certified crop advisors, and ultimately, field crop producers. I work closely with agronomists, plant breeders, and other plant scientists to evaluate cultural, biological, and chemical disease control strategies as a component of integrated crop management of corn, forage legume, small grain cereal, oilseed, and bioenergy feedstock crops. I also conduct fundamental research on the biology and epidemiology of leaf, spike, and stem diseases of small grain cereals. Topics currently being investigated include: assessment of diseases of small grains, soybean, and corn in New York State; assessment and management of mycotoxin contamination in barley, wheat, and corn production; population biology of Fusarium graminearum; epidemiology and integrated management of Fusarium head blight of wheat and barley; seed health-based systems for managing small grain diseases; Host resistance of switchgrass to pathogens