The 2025 Southwest Michigan Field Crops Season in Review

Nov 07, 2025

By Nicolle Ritchie and Angie Gradiz

It’s important to keep good records of the different challenges and opportunities from each growing season. Records serve as a reference for future seasons and can help you learn from past mistakes (or wins), adapt and respond to future challenges. This article provides an overview of findings in southwest Michigan. Overall, 2025 had few pest challenges and mostly weather-related challenges. In many cases, you may have had a different experience, pressure or timing than those mentioned below. If so, note that and keep it in your records to help you respond to future crop challenges.

Weather

The 2025 season was considerably warmer and drier than normal. Potatoes started planting in mid-March. Early-season cool temperatures benefited potatoes and winter wheat but delayed corn and soybean planting. Corn particularly was stunted, yellow and delayed from the early-season cool temperatures and cloudy days exacerbated by smoke from Canadian wildfires. Between rain and cool weather, planting didn’t wrap up until around the middle of June.

Mid-June brought storms in much of the region and high temperatures, which continued almost all season long. July and August were especially hot, with multiple weeks of heat indexes in the nineties and beyond. The hot temperatures and high humidity stressed crops and people alike. Some areas of southwest Michigan did not receive any significant precipitation between May and August, and crops were under considerable drought stress. Between the heat and the drought, corn pollination was affected in many fields throughout the region.

Source : msu.edu

Video: predictive weed Management saves on herbicide costs and increases yield potential

Gowan Canada is partnering with Geco Strategic Weed Management to help Canadian growers take a strategic approach to weed control through data-driven prediction and planning.

Geco’s technology uses data and AI to map where weeds have been over the past five years and predict where patches are likely to emerge next season. These insights allow farms and retailers to plan ahead and target actions in the most challenging areas.

“Our technology enables the question: if you could know where your most problematic patches are and where they are spreading to, what could you do differently? That’s what our technology makes possible,” said Greg Stewart, CEO of Geco. “Many of our farms are already using our prescriptions along with Gowan products, so this collaboration is a natural next step.”