Scouting is one of the most critical investments in the future of your harvest and income and is likely to pay off. In the past, farmers might not have had to return to the fields after spraying their crops, but that has changed. Scouting today has become the key to success and a reliable way to protect their own investments for many growers. Fortunately, due to the up-to-date technologies, all the agribusiness participants can use scouting apps for their purposes. For additional information please visit the Local Digital Business.
This procedure is indispensable if you want healthy soil, cover crop cultivation, and no-till. But even if you don’t do any of these things, scouting will still benefit you a lot. However, it’s not always an easy task to do. Farmers have to pay attention to every field due to the whole vegetation period to make effective scouting. You can’t just go out into the field and see what’s going on there. To carry out scouting operations with benefits, you need to know what to look for and have a strategy.
Control small weeds. Some weed species, which are the most problematic, such as Palmer amaranth or water cannabis, are best spotted and eliminated while small. They can be found on the soil’s surface and removed immediately, since when they already appear on the rows, it may be too late to do anything. Weeds spread very quickly, and their roots and seeds remain in the ground for a long time. If you do not exterminate the weeds in time, this can lead to problems for more than one year.
Of course, weeds are best identified based on a good guide. You can choose the printed version or use a specialized application. The guide will help you determine what kind of weed is in front of you and how best to deal with it.
Control pests and disease. Cover crops and no-till systems can help you grow healthier soil, but that doesn’t mean you won’t face problems at all. Pests, including slugs, voles, and others, can become frequent guests of your site. For this reason, it is crucial to detect pests by scouting and control their populations.
Mark the places where you faced rodents and pest insects during planting or harvesting. The marks will help you prevent the problem before the damage is done. In addition, it is essential to develop your own plan for the control and destruction of intruders based on scouting data and the characteristics of your fields. What your neighbor uses for spraying may not work for you. Moreover, you must accurately identify the type of pest to protect the crop and pick the proper means to reduce their population.
Learn to recognize beneficial insects. Helpful insects include those that will be effective in pest control. Therefore, pay attention to the number of spiders and beetles that feed on smaller insect species. They also eat weed seeds.
Scout on time. Timely scouting before and after planting can provide valuable insight to help you fight crop health. In addition, based on the data received, you can calculate the approximate income.
How scouting apps can help?
Agriculture apps help make the scouting process more accurate. You can perform scouting operations to a whole new level. In addition, all business participants benefit from this process through the application, as everyone can access information about the harvest. Various digital online platforms use GPS and work with big data from several sources at once, including drones and satellites. In addition, the applications available today provide historical weather data, zoning functionality and send notifications in the event of a crop threat.
Innovative technologies combined with software give a person what he cannot see for himself. For example, high-tech cameras make it possible to see the amount of sunlight reflected by plants. It can say a lot about the health of crops, but the human eye cannot see it without technology.
Artificial intelligence is also expanding human capabilities in agriculture. AI will help identify a problem in the field before it becomes visible. It is vital for maintaining a healthy crop, as if you already see something wrong, it may be too late.
Modern software can learn on its own. The more information it gets, the better analytics it provides. This way, users get more valuable data and can create better plans and solve problems more efficiently.
Artificial intelligence combined with modern aerial photography tools will also bring many benefits to farmers. Such solutions open up many new possibilities. For example, a farm owner whose crop has been damaged by hail can almost instantly send field pictures to his insurance company and prove that the damage was done.
The Role of Scouting
Scouting is a vital part of agriculture. Scouting has a meaning and purpose in every season. To better understand what needs to be done and when you can use a special calendar for scouting. This event should be regular, as it gives more opportunities to preserve the harvest. Apart from this, the frequency of scouting operations is also essential.
If you do the procedure once a month, you can skip the onset and spread of disease or pest infestations. By scouting more often, you will be able to save money on treatment. Pests and the spread of pathogens are the main problems of scattering in the first months after crop planting. In summer, it is necessary to control water and nutrient deficiencies and various plant stresses. In early autumn, scouting will help assess yields and monitor ripening.
Crop Scouting Precision Farming Market 2021
The use of precision farming in crop exploration is increasing throughout the world. There is also strong demand for precision farming components such as field mapping, weather tracking, yield monitoring, and forecasting. The global market for scouting and precision farming tools promises to grow steadily in 2021-2026.
The market is creating a profitable prospect for farmers in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, which could affect the global economy differently. A pandemic could directly affect demand and production, disrupt supply chains and markets, or affect financial markets and firms.