by Ben Nuelle LISTEN: World of Agriculture 5-24-16
Every year, companies hire extra help to cover more ground crop scouting. ISU Agronomist says you will be surprised what you run into when you are out scouting fields this summer.
Angie Rieck-Hinz is an agronomist at Iowa State University. She says it always important to stay safe when you are out crop scouting this growing season.
?I have actually run across a couple of meth labs in Iowa. Not so much in this day and age right now as we did five or ten years ago but we want our scouts to be safe while they are out there. We want them to understand that from time to time you are going to run into those oddities. Stay away, be careful, don?t engage anybody and report them if needed.?
Hinz also provides other hints for beginning crop scouters.
?First of all we really need to understand what growth stage our corn or soybeans are. By knowing that, we can talk about what is going to happen developmentally to that plant. Then we can determine if that is happening at a normal rate or the right time or if something is delayed and not normal.?
ISU Extension and Outreach Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program will host the sixth annual Crop Scouting Competition for Iowa Youth on Aug. 2. It will take place at the Field Extension Education Laboratory in Boone, Iowa. Registration is due July 1st.
