Introduction to Crop Scouting

Abstract

Crop scouting is an essential part of Integrated Pest Management (IPM). Scouting provides field-specific information on pest pressure and crop injury, information essential to the appropriate selection and application of pest management procedures. This publication explains the concepts of the economic injury level and economic threshold and focuses on sampling procedures used by field scouts. It discusses the importance of the scouting report as a record of the field sampling survey. The appendix includes a guide to identifying growth stages of various crops and timelines for the emergence and development of major pests and diseases in Missouri crops. This publication is part of a series of Integrated Pest Management manuals prepared by the MU Plant Protection Programs.