Page 6 - 2019 Ag Mag

Integrated Pest Management
6 KMAland 2019

Focus on Field Fundamentals

Crop Scouting is the basis of crop and pest management

By Ethan Stoetzer imaging and cropping systems pathogens, one must know ex-
Communications Specialist- designed to help you get the actly what’s “eating” the plants,
Integrated Pest Management most from your soils. To be a and how much damage has
Iowa State University
farmer in the 20th century is to been done or will likely occur.
W glamor of new seed treatments pacting farms in the respective
Much of this will be dependent
be a master of interpreting data.
Welcome to the new era of
But beneath the glitz and on the specific conditions im-
farming: an age of finesse, ana-
lytics and precision. Complete
with live yield metrics in the cab and trait stacks, the do-it-all area, and even differs on a field
machinery models and hi-tech, by field basis due to specific ge-
of the combine, a la cartè seed data tracking implements, there netics, soil types, management
stacks for nearly every environ- stands an essential foundation decisions, etc.
mental issue and pest problem, for crop and pest management: While the implementation
infrared cameras for aerial crop
effective crop scouting. Before of pictures, videos, GPS track-
any type of ac- ing and virtual compendiums
tion can be taken of pests has made life simpler,
to reduce weeds, nothing is a substitute for put-
negate insect ting on those old boots, don-
damage and/ ning that ball cap, gassing up
or stave off the pickup and exploring the
acreage.