Threats in the Field - Closing Out 2025 & Planning Ahead

Thursday, October 23, 2025

‘Understand Where Your Production System is Most Vulnerable.’

By Mary Loggan

Prairie farmers know that no two growing seasons are ever alike. The 2025 season has proven to be challenging, marked by unpredictable weather swings, renewed insect pressures, and ongoing concerns about crop disease.

While producers are accustomed to adversity, specialists say growers this year faced several risks that collectively tested resilience across major field crops such as canola, cereals, and pulses.

Better Farming recently connected with Kaeley Kindrachuk, agronomy extension specialist with SaskOilseeds, and the Manitoba Government, to discuss the issues encountered this year, how they compare to previous years, and what planning steps are most valuable heading into 2026.

Threats

In Saskatchewan, Kindrachuk says weather defined much of the growing season.

“The 2025 season started off dry in most parts of Saskatchewan, although there were some areas that received rainfall earlier.

“Areas that would normally receive rainfall (like the Northern part of Saskatchewan) suffered from drought, and areas that have been drier in the last few years have finally received some rainfall this year.

“Regardless, it’s still not enough to replenish soil moisture reserves.”

She added that conditions fluctuated widely: “There were also a few areas of the Northwest that had late frosts this spring/early summer, so we’ve had a lot of weather-related challenges in 2025.

“Recently, we’ve seen some severe storms come through the province, and some areas have had significant hail damage to their crops as well.”

In Alberta, most areas received timely rainfall, boosting soil moisture and crop development, but parts of the South and Peace Regions struggled with drought.

As of August, 69 per cent of crops were rated good to excellent, above the five-year average.

Weather extremes included occasional hailstorms and dry spells in select regions.

A provincial spokesperson in the Manitoba Government pointed to similarly difficult weather across their province.

“Difficult to summarize for all crops in all regions, as the weather was variable throughout the province and throughout the growing season.

“It is still early in the season to assess full impacts. Impacts on agriculture have been highly variable depending on the type of crop, location, seeding date, and soil type.”

They say key weather points included higher-than-normal temperatures in early May, with drier-than-normal conditions prevalent in the Northwest, Interlake, and Eastern regions.

“Although very dry conditions were persistent in some areas, regions of the Southwest had rain accumulations that exceeded normal for the growing season as a whole.”

While the weather posed challenges, plant diseases also loomed large in Saskatchewan.

Kindrachuk explains: “While we still have yet to see what happened with canola diseases this year, there were a lot more concerns about blackleg and sclerotinia.

“In 2024 we saw a very high prevalence of blackleg in the province and there was a big concern going into 2025 about it.”

The uptake of the SaskOilseeds testing program reflected this concern, she says.

“The program allows producers and agronomists to send in stem samples to be tested for blackleg species and races, as well as confirmation of verticillium stripe.

“The goal of the program is to help with choosing the right canola variety based on blackleg races for the next time canola is grown on that field.”

Insect pressures also demand attention. Kindrachuk notes, “We saw an increase in insects that we haven’t had issues with for a few years. The most common pests include flea beetles, cutworms and grasshoppers, and they were certainly a concern in pockets, but not as widespread as other insects this year.

“Cabbage seedpod weevil extended its reach to North and Eastern Saskatchewan and did reach numbers exceeding the economic thresholds in the Central and Southwest part of the province, and producers were busy spraying in late June and early July for them.”

The Manitoba Government also raised similar concerns with emerging pest issues. “For insects in 2025, the most significant threats to field crops were in canola – flea beetles were once again an early-season concern, with high numbers of cabbage seedpod weevil were noticed, at times above economic threshold.

“This is the first year cabbage seedpod weevil has been at economic levels in Manitoba.”

They also pointed to a wider range of pest problems across crop types.

“In cereal crops, true armyworms were the biggest insect concern. In pulse crops, quite high levels of pea leaf weevil were present in pea fields, particularly in the Western portion of Manitoba.

“In soybeans, cutworms were an issue early in the season, and late spider mites became an issue in some soybean fields in the Eastern, Interlake and Central regions.”

In Alberta, blackleg and verticillium stripe were present in canola, especially in wetter areas, but remained manageable with proper rotation and resistance practices.

Wheat streak mosaic virus was confirmed in southern Alberta fields, with localized yield loss risk for wheat and barley.

Economically significant grasshopper populations appeared in the South and Peace Regions, surpassing thresholds in some areas.

Alberta growers also saw wheat midge, sawfly, and canola flower midge causing isolated damage, with most areas reporting low pest pressure.

A look at previous years

Kindrachuk compares the 2025 season to the sustained dry periods of the past decade.

“In the last seven to eight years, we’ve been mostly concerned with the severe lack of moisture in much of the province.

“We’ve faced different disease or pest issues as well, but it seemed like this year, some parts of Saskatchewan were hit with almost any issue that could have come up.

“Generally, though, we do see some combination of weather, insect and disease issues, though they might be a different variation every year.”

Manitoba echoed that this year had some positive contrasts. “Precipitation accumulations in many (but not all) areas were timely. Unlike 2021, this season was not preceded by several dry years.”

Still, some insect problems were unprecedented. “Cabbage seedpod weevil, although having been present in Manitoba since at least 2017, were at levels not previously seen in Manitoba.

“Levels of pea leaf weevil have also been increasing. Grasshopper population have not been as bad as expected, although the season, and potential for them to do damage, is not over.”

Planning for 2026

For Saskatchewan growers, Kindrachuk emphasized careful record-keeping and use of extension resources.

“If you haven’t already been keeping records of what was going on in each field this year, start now.

“Write it all down – all challenges and observations for each field. It’s less pressure when it’s written down and you don’t have to try remembering what happened months later.

“Utilize the programs and information that are freely available to you – SaskOilseeds disease testing program, email newsletter, and texting service. Other crop commissions and provinces have their own information – it exists to help you.”

The Manitoba government offered similar advice: “The same general advice as in past years, to scout crops regularly.

“Keep watch of results from insect monitoring programs, and current concerns summarized in the Manitoba Crop Pest Update. Those scouting canola should include cabbage seedpod weevil as an insect to scout for.”

They also reminded producers to manage risks holistically.

“As it is impossible to accurately predict weather conditions or seasonal extremes from one year to the next, producers should stay informed and understand what moisture conditions are going into seeding.

“It is important to understand where their production system is most vulnerable to extreme weather and discuss with their agronomist and production specialists – and financial professionals – options to help mitigate any additional risk.” BF