By Erin Lizotte, Michigan State University Extension
Free pest scouting bulletins are now available to field crop, greenhouse, vegetable and perennial crop producers.
Scouting and monitoring for pests is a critical step in quantifying potential damage that can be caused by a pest and aids in determining if intervention to control the pest is warranted. Scouting also helps growers determine the present life stage of the insect or disease which is often critical to properly selecting and timing management strategies.
Lady bug pupa on a hop leaf.
Growers also benefit from keeping records of their scouting, including maps of their fields, sampling dates and pest pressure, as well as control measures utilized. Scouting should begin as soon as plants begin to grow or pests become active and should continue until the crop is dormant or the risk of the pest has passed.
To assist growers in developing or improving their scouting programs, Michigan State University Extension has developed a series of new bulletins that are available for free download:
- Integrated Pest Management Scouting in Field Crops, E3294: Directed at fields crop producers including corn, soybeans, small grains and forages.
- Integrated Pest Management Scouting in Perennial Crops, E3295: Directed at perennial crop producers including conifers, hops and fruit.
- Integrated Pest Management Scouting in Vegetable Crops, E3293: Directed at vegetable crop producers including cole crops, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, vine crops, root vegetables and more.
- Integrated Pest Management in Greenhouse Crops, E3296: Directed at ornamental and vegetable greenhouse crop producers.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2015-09785. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.