Page 7 - 2019 Ag Mag

KMAland 2019 Integrated Pest Management 7

So how’s the weather? continuous crop. Pests don’t take days off, nei-
Depending on the time of It is also important to know ther should scouts.
season, whether it be pre plant, what pest pressure has been Haven’t had much experi-
mi- season or harvest, it’s best to recently observed, or is likely ence with a particular pest but
keep up-to-date on past, present to occur, in your region. Iowa it’s been sighted in your area?
and future weather, including State University Integrated Make sure to head to the Iowa
rainfall and temperatures. Crop Management is a great State University Extension
The United States Depart- online resource for looking up Store to stock up on weed, in-
ment of Agriculture (USDA) past crop conditions and those sect and disease field guides
Midwest Climate Hub has two that currently an issue. Iowa that can either be downloaded
resources that aid in identify- State’s area agronomists are also as PDF’s for easy searchability,
ing weekly drought conditions a great resource to consult with or consult a pocket-sized copy
(USDA Drought Monitor), as for more local reports on pest for quick, mobile access. Exten-
well as weekly weather reports conditions. sion doesn’t have the informa-
depicting temperature, pre- With the rate at which pests tion on a pest you are looking
cipitation, dew, etc. (Weekly can spread, it can sometimes be for? Make sure to also consult
Weather and Crop Bulletin). As advantageous to follow neigh- the Crop Protection Network
pest pressure can be highly de- boring states’ extension resourc- (cropprotectionnetwork.org).
pendent on weather conditions, es, especially if acreages border The network is made up of vari-
it’s best to be informed of these another state. These include: ous plant pathologists who work
conditions to coordinate the CropWatch, by the University with corn, soybean, and wheat
best time to scout fields. of Nebraska-Lincoln; Universi- crops, who share information in
ty of Minnesota Extension IPM; the form of free disease manage-
Refer to last year University of Missouri IPM; ment guides and encyclopedia
A great way to get ahead of Integrated Crop and Pest Man- articles.
potential pest problems this year agement, by the University of When in season, be sure to
is to look at the pest presence Wisconsin-Madison; and Com- consult the aforementioned
from the previous year. First and mercial Ag Field Crops (Univer- crop and pest management re-
foremost, make sure to plan ac- sity of Illinois). sources. These websites will re-
cordingly for damaging pests or port on weekly crop conditions
weed escapes the year prior, es- for various regions of the state,
pecially if planting a continuous PESTS and may be able to help iden-
crop. tify the issues occurring on your
Continuous cropping pro- farm. This will help you know
vides an especially hospitable DON’T TAKE what to be on the lookout for
environment for pests due to while in the field.
overwintering survival of in- DAYS OFF, If possible, make sure to con-
sects and disease-causing patho- sult these extension resources
gens. However, damaging pests NEITHER for field day trainings, both dur-
shouldn’t be the sole focus. Even ing the season and during the
pests that occurred at low levels SHOULD winter. While information can
in previous years could be prob- sometimes be repetitive, it’s im-
ly if a field has been growing a SCOUTS. portant to at least brush up on
lematic in future years, especial-
your skills routinely, and to con-