Farm Progress

Both iOS and Android versions of Corn Field Scout and Soybean Field Scout are now available.

Tom J Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

March 29, 2018

2 Min Read
AN APP FOR THAT: How many seeds per acre should you plant to get a stand like this that will deliver economic maximum return? A calculator in Purdue’s Corn Field Scout app can help.

Corey Gerber says Purdue’s mobile crop scouting apps are designed for someone who wants information quickly in the field.

Gerber is director of the Purdue University Crop Diagnostic Training and Research Center. There are two different crop scouting apps, and both are offered for iOS and Android devices. Corn Field Scout and Soybean Field Scout are based on information contained in the Purdue Corn & Soybean Field Guide. The 2018 version of the printed guide is now available.

Learn about all of the diagnostic training center’s products on its website, Gerber says. Information about the apps and the printed field guide are on the right side of the home page. Click on the product you’re interested in to learn how to obtain it.

Corn Field Scout and Soybean Field Scout are available from the app store for your mobile device for $5.99 each.

“It wasn’t necessary to update them for 2018, so if you have one already, it’s still current,” Gerber says. If you don’t have these apps, access and upload one or both at any time.

Both apps feature several built-in calculators. The goal is to help you make calculations related to scouting quick and easy, Gerber says.

For example, Corn Field Scout includes an economic seeding rate calculator. Enter $250 per bag for cost of seed. Estimate market price at $3.50 per bushel. Your intended seeding rate is 34,000 seeds per acre, at 95% emergence, with a yield goal of 200 bushels per acre. Hit calculate, and you learn marginal return to seed is $593.74 per acre. You also learn that the highest marginal return would be $601.77 if you plant 29,046 seeds per acre, with final yield of 197.9 bushels per acre. Calculations are based on trial results referenced in the calculator.

About the Author(s)

Tom J Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farmer

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