What percent of your time during the spring and summer do you spend scouting fields? Is it enough that you feel comfortable about what’s going on in your fields all year long?

Don Donovan is a district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Donovan, other NRCS personnel and other Indiana Conservation Partnership participants prepare information on key topics each month. He believes scouting is definitely one of the keys to success.

Scouting isn’t the most glamorous part of farming, but Donovan works with farmers who find it is one investment that pays off. This is especially true as you start your soil health journey using no-till and cover crops, but it applies to all farming systems, he says.

There are reasons ag retailers hire college students looking for summer income to do their scouting. Effective scouting cannot be done from the comfort of your truck, Donovan notes. It should take quite a bit of walking, getting dirty or maybe soaking wet, and probably working up a sweat several times a year.

What to scout for
What do you need to look for? Many of the current weed threats, such as Palmer amaranth, need to be controlled when they’re very small. You need to catch them as they break though the soil surface and are identifiable. Many weeds grow so fast that if you wait even just a few days or until you can start to see them down the row, you may not get effective control, Donovan says. Therefore, you may see a potential yield reduction this year from weeds, and then multiple-year issues down the road. 

The same is true for insects and other pests. Slugs, armyworms and other pests can be a major issue in no-till and cover crop systems. Effective scouting of fields before and right after planting can provide the information you need to determine if control is necessary, Donovan says.

The farmers Donovan works with know that with today’s farm economy providing narrow profit margins, effective scouting can help protect your profit margin as you try to decide whether or not to apply the proper pesticide. 

An effective scouting program can provide a definite return on your investment of time and/or money. Refer to the scouting calendar below to know when you should be looking for specific pests in your soybean fields. Watch for a corn scouting calendar later in the week.