One of the major components of an IPM program, if not its foundation, is crop scouting. The goal of crop scouting is to provide accurate and unbiased pest and crop development data. Without this information an intelligent pest management decision cannot be made. A crop advisor must have a thorough understanding of crop growth/development, key pests and their life cycles. Additionally, the crop advisor must know how the environment affects each of these components. Only after this information is collected can an appropriate pest management decision be made.

This is a two part file. This file is part one and includes the chapters on Alfalfa, Field Corn, Soybean, and Wheat.