Farms.com has announced a webinar titled "Sector Resilience: Protecting Sm1 — New Research on Wheat Midge Resistance," aimed at growers and agronomists who depend on Sm1, the gene that gives wheat varieties their resistance to orange blossom wheat midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana).

The session will present new research on the gene and on the risks that threaten its long-term effectiveness. That question matters at farm level. Sm1 is the primary genetic defence against wheat midge across resistant varieties, and it has allowed many growers to avoid the yield and quality losses the pest causes, as well as the cost of insecticide applications timed to midge flight.

Resistance built on a single gene is inherently vulnerable. Widespread planting of Sm1 varieties applies heavy selection pressure on midge populations, and researchers have long warned that the pest could eventually overcome the gene. The webinar is expected to address what the latest findings show about that risk and what stewardship measures growers can adopt to slow it.

For growers, the practical stakes are straightforward. If Sm1 resistance breaks down, midge control shifts back to field monitoring, degree-day modelling and well-timed sprays, with the associated costs and the risk of yield penalties when treatments miss the narrow application window at heading. Preserving the gene protects an approach that requires none of that management overhead.

The webinar forms part of farms.com's "Sector Resilience" series, which covers threats to crop production and the tools available to manage them. The format gives participants direct access to the researchers behind the new work and a chance to put practical questions about variety choice and resistance management.

Growers who plant Sm1 wheat varieties, or who advise those who do, should check the farms.com events listing for registration details, the speaker line-up and the session time. Anyone with midge pressure in recent seasons will want to hear the research results first-hand before finalising variety decisions for the coming season.