Pest management is an essential part of crop scouting for both corn and soybean producers. And to help, the Crop Protection Network (CPN) has released a crop scouting and integrated pest management web book to assist agriculturalists.
According to a release from Auburn University, crop scouting is important in order to assess pest pressure and help determine what is necessary to mitigate crop loss. Effectively managing weeds, diseases, insect pests, and other field issues are often accomplished through the scouting process. Detailed knowledge of the pest situation in a field allows farmers to take proactive action and make appropriate management decisions.
Scott Graham, Alabama Extension entomology and plant pathology agent said, “Scouting is the backbone of any integrated pest management (IPM) program. From insects to diseases or weeds, it is important to understand what pests are in the field and at what point they reach damaging levels.”
And according to Graham, this web book provides information on the background of corn and soybean agronomics, and it contains the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of scouting.
Becoming familiar with crop growth stages and learning to look through a field for pests are important scouting skills that the web book covers. The web book also includes stand counts, yield estimation, weed science, plant pathology, and entomology subject matter.
The CPN web book is possible thanks to contributions from Iowa State University Integrated Pest Management, National Corn Growers Association, and the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.