Barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and cereal yellow dwarf virus (CYDV) are found damaging cereal crops worldwide. They infect wheat, barley, oats and grasses and are transmitted by aphids.
Cereal smut and bunt diseases are caused by fungi which parasitise the host plant and produce masses of soot-like spores in the leaves, grains or ears.
Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) can be a significant threat to wheat crops in Western Australia in some seasons.
Stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) is a foliar disease that can significantly reduce wheat yields if it occurrs in early spring and is not controlled.
