There have been issues with cutworms in the area for the last few seasons, and this year is no different.

With crops emerging in Southern Alberta, Crop Specialist, Mark Cutts with the Ag Info Center says it's a good idea to go out and check your crops for pests.

"The main signs to look for with cutworms is you will see that the plants basically look like they have been chewed off," he explains. "So you'll see areas where the plants are no longer standing. So basically the plants are severed, they've been chewed off by the cutworms and the stem has been chewed off by the cutworms."  

Cutts says there is no seed treatment that will control cutworms, so if you have them on your crops you need to spray an insecticide.  

"You go through cycles with insects so we could just be at a point where we've got some higher cutworm numbers. It's hard to say what it will be like in a few years," Cutts says. "Because they've been a problem I'd certainly encourage producers to scout for cutworms."