What is crop scouting? Streamline the process with crop scouting software

Successful harvests depend on good crop scouting. With the right digital tools in hand, agronomists and crop advisors can cover more acres, undertaking the high quality fieldwork they need to create the best possible recommendations for their growers.

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What is crop scouting?

Crop scouting is the process of inspecting fields and crops to identify potential threats (such as pests, diseases, nutrient deficiencies and weeds) that could have a detrimental impact on crop harvest. It’s undertaken to flag potential issues and plan interventions. If handled well, it can minimize crop loss and improve yield. 

The challenges of traditional crop scouting

Effective scouting is hard work, and traditional crop scouting techniques and practices are fairly inefficient. Many scouts manually write and record details in a notebook which takes a lot of time and can lead to errors in recording, reading and managing data. A mobile application, by comparison, can slim down a scout’s toolbox from notebooks, sketchbooks and cameras to a single device.

The importance of crop scouting

The value of accurately collecting data on crop conditions, pest threats, weed risks and disease management cannot be overstated. It enables real-time interpretation of field and insect data, giving scouts, agronomists and their growers the insights they need to identify and quickly implement intervention measures. Historical data provides year-over-year trends and insights into the effectiveness of previous treatment plans.

Growers can prevent crop loss, optimize yield and protect profits with good crop insights. But how do they get them? They rely on the sound guidance of their agronomists and crop advisors. When those experts use new digital crop scouting tools, they can greatly enhance the accuracy and efficiency of crop scouting and deliver better crop insights in less time. 

The capabilities and benefits of digital crop scouting software

The right digital crop scouting tool can enhance the way you record and collect your data, document observations, and share findings and recommendations with growers. But with so many crop scouting apps on the market, choosing the right solution can be challenging. 

TELUS Agronomy is a robust software solution that can streamline your crop scouting process. Here’s what you’ll be able to do with it when it comes to crop scouting.

Identify, record and share observations and recommendations

Forget running back and forth from the field to your desk all day — TELUS Agronomy can enable you to work on the go with your mobile device. You can use it to easily enter field-level observations by organizing them into categories like insects, disease, weeds, and damage. You can also log the percentage of crops affected, degree of severity, photos of your observations and record any action items and notes. All of this information is stored in easy-to-read GPS pinpointed icons on your Dashboard map, and are available for others to view in real-time or, alternatively, can be turned into reports.

Enhance growers’ experience

With TELUS Agronomy, your customers will have better access to what they need, and when and where they require it. By capturing and sharing your findings in one place, you can close information gaps and enhance client experience. Anyone with access to the platform can quickly and easily find the information they need to keep things moving.

Centralize and enhance data collection and analysis

TELUS Agronomy enables you to harmonize and analyze your data in one central location, which can help you save a significant amount of time on  daily and weekly tasks. 

By recording field-level observations on a mobile device, you can make important decisions quickly and in real-time. By leveraging the power of technology, data tracking can be done in minutes, empowering you and your growers to service more acres in a shorter amount of time. When it comes to insect-related trends, TELUS Agronomy's trap counting solution enables you, your field staff and growers to easily monitor activity and gauge collected data to make decisions relating to pest threats on-the-fly. And because TELUS Agronomy stores your information in one central location, it’s easy to see what tasks were completed in previous seasons. 

Work in one dashboard

TELUS Agronomy is designed for all crops, in all markets and for any size of an organization. You can document the percentage of crops affected, level of severity and note any further actions required. Those observations easily roll up into the tool’s Enterprise Dashboards, which you can use to share disease tracking, monitor activities and report on data trends by location in near real-time.

TELUS Agronomy's field scouting capabilities also include in-season imagery and directed scouting with layers, including application, planting and harvest data.

Let’s plan a better season together

TELUS Agronomy is the digital solution you need to enhance your crop scouting and more. It provides fast, accurate crop data and enables real-time syncing between devices so your team and growers can see observations as they’re being created. Early detection of crop issues means the chances of a successful harvest are even greater. To learn more about TELUS Agronomy and discover if it’s the right solution for you, connect with our experts for a demo.