Wheat diseases have quietly drained staggering sums from farmers’ pockets in recent years. A sweeping new study shows that between 2018 and 2021, crop diseases robbed wheat growers across 29 U.S. states and Ontario of an estimated 560 million bushels—worth US$2.9 billion in lost revenue. That equates to roughly $18.10 per acre disappearing from farmer bottom lines.
Published in Plant Health Progress, the study is the most comprehensive analysis of wheat-related losses ever conducted. Led by Andrew Friskop of North Dakota State University’s Department of Plant Pathology, the project drew on the expertise of dozens of university specialists and the Crop Protection Network. Together, they produced a detailed snapshot of the hidden economic impact wheat diseases exact on growers.
“Farming and food production are incredibly complex,” said Friskop. “This research helps us understand just one of the many invisible threats to crop productivity.”
The team compiled estimates from annual surveys completed by Extension specialists and plant pathologists embedded in wheat-growing regions. Nearly 30 different diseases were tracked, offering an unprecedented field-level perspective on how disease pressures shape yields year over year.
The losses weren’t evenly spread. Fusarium head blight, stripe rust, and leaf rust emerged as the top yield-killing culprits, with weather and local conditions determining the severity of outbreaks. In 2019 alone, wheat farmers lost 188 million bushels—the worst single year captured in the study.
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