Climate change is impacting weeds on the Prairies. Here's how some people are fighting back

Julia Leeson pushes aside a crop of wheat in a field near Saskatoon. She kneels down and writes a few words on a chart.

She's on the hunt for weeds of all sorts — acting as a sort of agricultural hall monitor, making sure they're not getting out of control.

Leeson is one of several research scientists with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) who do weed surveys across the Prairies — inventories of the types of weeds growing in fields.

The data is collected and then analyzed in the winter.

"We're looking to see what's survived in-crop management and will potentially produce seed and be a problem next year," Leeson said.

One weed Leeson and her colleagues come across the most is kochia. The potent plant produces thousands of seeds that can spread easily in the wind.

Charles Geddes, a research scientist with AAFC in Lethbridge, Alta., said kochia can even thrive in drought conditions —something that's predicted to worsen under climate change.

Expanding drought also means kochia's range is becoming more widespread. It was previously isolated to southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan.

"We are seeing it now move up into areas even north of Saskatoon for example," said Geddes.

"We've also documented this weed now starting to become an issue even as far north as the Peace River region in Alberta. And for them, it's a new weed that hasn't existed there in the past."

Modelling done by Geddes predicts kochia's range will continue to rapidly expand under climate change conditions, becoming an issue in most Prairie fields by 2070.

Geddes said kochia and other weeds have become resistant to many herbicides, making it challenging to kill them, especially as they moves into new areas.

Some studies have also found herbicides — especially ones that use glyphosate — can damage the environment and cause health effects to humans and animals.

Shaun Sharpe, a research scientist with AAFC in Saskatoon, has spent the last few years in his lab coming up with ways to kill weeds without herbicides, so the weeds don't continue to resist them.