AS FARMERS PREPARE for the 2025 planting season, disease patterns seen in 2024 in canola and pulses offer a bit of familiarity with a taste of challenges to come.
While 2024 didn’t bring dramatic surprises, trends like the rise of verticillium stripe and steady threats like blackleg, clubroot, and sclerotinia continue to shape the landscape for farmers. As far as root rot on pulses go, there are encouraging signs that farmers may be reaping the rewards of longer rotations.
“Verticillium is becoming more prevalent,” explains Mike Harding, a plant pathologist at Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation. The disease, caused by a soilborne fungus, is showing up more frequently in survey samples and anecdotally across Alberta.
“We’re picking it up more in our surveys, and agronomists are reporting more cases this year than ever before,” Harding says.
While not yet widespread, verticillium appears to be spreading steadily.
“It’s a gradual increase in our surveys, but on individual fields, farmers sometimes report dramatic changes — no symptoms one year, then a lot the next.”
The disease’s rise is likely due to a combination of increasing soil inoculum and its natural progression into new areas, rather than any single weather event.
In the realm of canola, blackleg, clubroot and sclerotinia remain significant issues. A wet spring in some regions contributed to slightly higher blackleg levels, while sclerotinia was somewhat less severe than anticipated, despite favourable conditions. Clubroot continues to spread and diversify, challenging growers to stay ahead with resistant varieties and management strategies.
These diseases, along with emerging threats like verticillium, underscore the importance of crop rotation and sound management practices, Harding says.
“Rotation frequency and the amount of inoculum left behind in the soil are big predictors of what farmers will face in 2025.”
As always, weather plays a critical role in determining disease severity. Southern Alberta’s semi-arid environment means rainfall, heat, and other climatic factors often dictate which diseases emerge and how severe they become.
“Predicting disease is as good as predicting the weather,” Harding acknowledges. “And weather can change quickly, making long-term forecasts unreliable.”
While the 2024 season provided no major shocks, Alberta farmers should remain vigilant.
“The usual suspects — blackleg, clubroot, and sclerotinia — will be back, and verticillium is one to watch,” he advises. “But I don’t see anything brewing that requires pushing the panic button.”
Check back in the coming days as we explore these trends and what farmers can to do prepare for them.
