The winter of 2025-26 was comparatively long and cold for much of Ontario, but it’s often the freeze-thaw and cold rain in the spring that challenge the province’s winter cereals.
Here’s what to watch out for as your winter cereals emerge from domancy.
WHY IT MATTERS: Getting winter wheat up and growing in the spring is critical to eventual yield.
Agronomists say winter wheat in what were snow-heavy parts of Ontario might face higher pressure from snow mould and excess moisture.
Snow mould in winter cereals can occur when a crop is covered in snow before the ground adequately freezes, says Joanna Follings, cereals specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness.
The snow provides insulation for fungal pathogens that can survive in soil and on residue, allowing them to grow on plants throughout the winter. After snow melts, damp and cool weather is conducive for continued growth of the pathogens, further damaging the plants.
“Growers might be noticing right now some patches that might look brown, or think they’re dead. In a very severe infection the growing point can be damaged and the plants can eventually die. However, the plants should grow out of it if the growing point isn’t affected,” says Follings, speaking March 11.
“Identify for snow mould and keep an eye on them. We need to see how these plants grow as temperatures warm to see how things are.”
Follings adds some growers have expressed concern about the return of cold temperatures after snowmelt. Her field observations thus far suggest growers don’t need to be overly concerned because warm-temperature periods have been limited.
“It’s not like it was 10 degrees (C) all winter, and suddenly we’re flipping back,” she says.
Wheat that’s cold and wet, however, is a concern as heavy rains have followed significant snowmelt. While sitting water is a danger, the moisture appears to be absorbing into soils and moving well, with field edges, headlands and other such areas forming the majority of acres with standing water.
“As we always say, they hate wet feet. Wheat can withstand it for a couple days. But if we’re looking at seven to 10 days, that’s when we start to see an impact or damage on some plants, and thinner stands. If growers have the ability to get that water away in some way, that’s good. The biggest thing is to be patient,” she says.
“We went through something similar last year where all the snow melted and waterlogged, and we fared fine. The biggest thing is to give the wheat a chance to green up and begin growing … One more thing we’re seeing more and more is the benefit to early-applied sulphur once wheat has greened up. If conditions allow, that will also help with robust growth and help those plants get going if they have been stressed.”
Jonathan Zettler, Wellington County agronomist and operator of Fieldwalker Agronomy Ltd., confirms ponding is likely to be his area’s biggest issue in early spring.
“There’s flooding in spots I haven’t seen in a while, and a lot of roads that have been closed in spots,” Zettler says. “Last year we had a fair amount of winterkill. It’s hard to know for sure but it was probably related to snow mould in triticale and certain winter wheat varieties.”
“The main one I’ve been battling lately is powdery mildew. If the wheat does survive between flooding and ponding, growers may want to scout for that.”
Challenges for barley trials
For Quentin Martin, operator of Cribit Seeds near Waterloo, excess water has raised concerns about the company’s Ontario Cereal Crops Committee winter barley trials.
“They were positioned to avoid spring water pooling,” Martin says, speaking March 13. “On Sunday I crawled up to take a photo and there was water right up to the plots. It stayed on Monday, but was gone on Tuesday. This indicated the frost wasn’t very deep, and the snow cover insulated against the cold. Then along the edge of the field is a cedar hedge, which produced quite a snowbank. At the beginning of the week that area looked dead, but today it seems to be greening up.”
A -10 C forecast for early in the third week of March, however, spurs Martin to add “we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Zettler also reiterates it’s still early to make definitive assessments, as the remaining snow disappeared less than a week ago.
“The water does seem to be leaving because the ground I don’t think was very frozen. Hopefully it can leave fast enough for the wheat to survive.”
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