Page 8 - 2019 Ag Mag

8 Integrated Pest Management KMAland 2019

sult specialists in a one-on-one make pest management deci- there are apps that take into
setting for specific questions sions, and accurately record account field location and
about your own experiences. field conditions. Simply con- weather patterns and calculate
Seeking out an independent sult your application store for whether it is profitable to spray
certified crop advisor is also an crop scouting apps. Of course, a fungicide (Sporecaster, Uni-
option, as well as other ag busi- the old school pencil and pa- versity of Wisconsin-Madison).
nesses. per will also be just as effec- When deciding to make a
tive. Be sure to have a plot map pest management decision, the
Making Decisions with you to remind yourself pest’s arrival time, location on

Before making any decisions where you are in a field. A soil plants or in the field and pest
regarding pest management, it topography chart for the area populations or potential risk
is imperative that effective can also be helpful by display- are all variables that can impact
crop scouting has been done, ing low areas where water can a decision. If a disease shows
and has been done consis- gather and disease is favored. It up very late in the season, it
tently. Scouting only once in a also doesn’t hurt to have your might not be economical to
while, or randomly spot check- extension field guides in your treat it; if a disease has gone
ing, can give you a distorted bag to refer to for identifying unnoticed and is occurring at a
representation of what’s actu- pests..It’s best to consult your high rate in the field, it’s impor-
ally happening in the field and agronomist, crop advisor or ex- tant to know how much money
potentially cause you to make tension resource for the most needs to be spent on treatment
an unnecessary pest manage- up-to-date pest thresholds, and the payoffs. To learn more
ment decision, or could result this way you can make an in- about crop scouting, or to find
in you not taking action when formed, economic-based deci- various resources for pests and
one should have been. sion. These resources can also crops, visit ipm.iastate.edu. For
Be sure to keep on a consistent help identify instances of pest crop management advice and
crop scouting schedule, and resistance or help to make the research, visit Iowa State Uni-
make sure that scouting is done best decisions to mitigate the versity’s Integrated Crop Man-
across the field and account for occurrence of resistance. It’s agement site:
any anomalies. While you can important that pest manage- https://crops.extension.
scout a field in a zig-zag pat- ment decisions are made re- iastate.edu/
tern, the most important thing sponsibly, taking into account For resources on small
is to see as many parts of the that while there are many tools grains, visit the Crop
field as possible. When a field at our disposal, improper use of
is too large, scouting the entire these tools, or an over reliance Protection Network at
field at once could result in a on them, can negate their us- cropprotectionnetwork.org.
false depiction of pest pressure. age for future generation.
It’s best to shrink the scouting For information addressing Follow us on:
areas into chunks. pest resistance, consult Iowa’s Twitter @ISU_IPM
To keep track of pest condi- Pest Resistance Management Facebook: ISUIPM
tions, there are several apps resources (protectiowacrops. Instagram: ISUIPM
that have now integrated an- org). For certain diseases, such
nual reporting and trends as white mold in soybeans,
from previous years to help