With the alterations everyone has had to make in their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic, many field days and meetings have been canceled or suspended indefinitely. Due to these conditions, the Iowa State University Integrated Pest Management Program has extended its once-a-season offer of its Crop Scout Essentials: Pest Management Field Guides bundle through April 30.

This bundle has the resources you’ll need for addressing pest management decisions facing your fields this year and years to come.

“We want you to be prepared for the yield-reducing disease, insect and weed challenges affecting your fields,” says Ethan Stoetzer, ISU IPM communications specialist. “The field guides are great scouting resources, providing a wealth of information for identifying issues affecting crops. Whether you're a grower, certified crop adviser or industry professional, our field guides are tailored to showcase best practices, scouting techniques, and provide you with means-tested management options.”

If you are looking for bulk orders of the guides for a cheaper price, the ISU Extension Store offers bulk orders of these guides: 

Continuing education units

Also, as events and meetings have been canceled, it’s difficult to find ways to earn certified education units as a certified crop adviser. While not worth as much as a regular crop meeting, the Crop Protection Network does offer CEUs for reviewing each of its 22 publications and the corresponding follow-up quizzes. CPN also offers free downloadable publications on diseases, fungicide efficacy tables and research advancements in crop-pest management.

Fungicide performance ratings

CPN has published its 2020 fungicide efficacy tables for foliar diseases of corn and soybeans, and for seedling diseases of soybeans. Plant pathologists from across the country, participating in plant disease working groups, assembled these guides on the efficacy of various fungicides. Data used for calculating an efficacy rating was compiled from national fungicide trials published through Plant Disease Management Reports throughout 2019.

These resources are a tool for farmers, agribusiness professionals, certified crop advisers and Extension specialists, as fungicide efficacy can change from year to year and region to region. Because the ratings are released every year, users of the tables are getting the most useful information possible.

Ratings in each of the three guides measure the effectiveness of an active ingredient, and don’t necessarily reflect yield increases or decreases as a result of application. An efficacy rating may depend on rate of the fungicide applied. Combining active ingredients can protect against a broader spectrum of diseases, as well as reduce the potential for disease resistance.

Ratings in the tables are calculated to serve only as a guide. It is an applicators legal responsibility to read and follow label directions. Tables include:

Source: ISU, which is solely responsible for information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content in this information asset.