Scouting crop fields is a little like wearing seat belts: Both can be inconvenient at times, but you never know when they'll save you.

Often, farmers wait too long to treat a problem, or spend money on treatments they may not need. Keeping a close eye on fields from April to August can not only save time and money, it may even salvage a crop.

Whether you scout your own fields or hire outside help, the key is thoroughness, said Dr. Paul Tracy, MFA staff agronomist. "There are all levels of crop scouting, but you need to get into the field for a close-up look at plants," Tracy added. "By the time you see symptoms through a truck windshield from the end of the rows, damage has already been done."

Cotton is the field crop most often scouted. For one thing, cotton is a high-risk crop: virtually every pest finds cotton tasty at some stage of the plant's growth. For another, a long tradition of crop scouting has grown up in the Cotton Belt. When a grower must manage several hundred or even thousands of acres, he rarely has time to make detailed checks in each field. Most cotton growers hire outside professionals to scout fields and keep track of insect infestations. Often, insect scouts and crop consultants are affiliated with a farm supply dealer or chemical company.

"In the past, we provided crop scouting services," said Gary Dobbins, general manager of the MFA-affiliated Morris Farms centers. "But we had trouble keeping dependable scouts. The good ones soon wanted to go into business for themselves; those who didn't do a good job didn't stay around. Now, when a patron needs crop scouts, we refer him to an independent scout we know to be honest and dependable."

Odds are better than even that the scout was trained by Andy Vangilder, University of Arkansas extension agent for Clay County. Vangilder has been a "bug man" from his youth. His 4-H projects were on entomology; he won the Arkansas state 4-H entomology award in the mid-1970s.

"As soon as I could drive legally, I contracted with our neighbors in Greene County to scout their fields," he recalled. "After I got my degree at Arkansas State, I ran a scouting program in Craighead County for 14 years. Since I have been in this job [Clay County extension agent], I have helped train most of the crop scouts in northeast Arkansas.

"I stress honesty and credibility in the scouts I work with," he said.

Vangilder makes a distinction between insect scouting and full crop consulting. Both professionals charge by the acre for their services. Insect scouts typically charge from $4.50 to $7 per acre for the season, and the good ones are worth it. Crop consultants, who do more than simply find bugs, charge from $7 to $10 per acre.

"I'd pay the extra dollars to hire a full consulting job," he said. "A good crop consultant can save a grower more than he costs. For example, he can point out that an irrigated field needs watering. If the grower is busy, he might be late on things like that."

Whoever is doing the scouting, insect identification is the first step. You need to know what to look for, when and where to look, and when you do find something, what it is.

"A scout or consultant needs to attend a good scouting school," Vangilder counseled. "And I'd study insect identification guides: reference books that give life cycles of major pests, complete with photos of the pest at different stages of growth. Take these manuals to the field. And get some background training before you hang out your shingle as a scout; work with an experienced scout or an extension agent.

"When a scout is beginning, it's sometimes tempting to bite off more acres than he can handle," he added. "A beginner shouldn't contract for more than 2,000 or 2,500 acres per week. An experienced scout can handle up to 5,000 acres in a season. But those are about the limits that you can do a good, thorough job.

"I recommend plant searches at four different locations in each field, and rotate the locations each week," Vangilder continued. "The better you cover a field, the more accurate you are. And a scout needs to physically go into the field and look. A four-wheeler can be handy to get you from field to field, but a crop scout needs to get into the field on his feet--and with his eyes open."

A good scout almost needs to think like the insects he's looking for.

"Spider mites, for instance, typically show up when the weather heats up," said Vangilder. "They usually move in from the weeds that have sheltered them at the edge of the field. So, when hot weather hits, I make those areas one or two of the four points I check in the field. An insect infestation can do a lot of damage in a short time."

Early in the season, be especially watchful for thrips and cutworms. Then, scout for aphids and plant bugs, such as flea hoppers, tarnished plant bugs and clouded plant bugs. Then, as cotton forms squares (buds), start looking for boll weevil evidence.

A scout needs to keep clear communication lines open with the farm manager, too.

"Make a report--either verbal or written or both--on each field every time you scout the field, and have an understanding about where the report is to be made," said Vangilder. "And be absolutely certain about field identification. If the scout identifies the wrong field, the grower may order a spray on a field that doesn't need it--or equally as bad, fail to spray a field that does need it. Know the variety, too. This is especially important for crop consultants: You need to know if a cotton variety is resistant to Buctril or Roundup."

Insect scouting may change in the next few years. Both northeast Arkansas and the Missouri Bootheel are in a boll weevil eradication program that got underway last fall. The eradication effort costs growers $25 per acre per year. Spraying starts when cotton is at the pinhead square stage and continues until after harvest when stalks are shredded.

"The eradication program seems to be working early on," said Vangilder. "We caught fewer weevils in traps this year than last year."

But this silver lining may have a cloud or two.

"The insecticides used in the eradication program are hard on beneficial insects," Vangilder noted. "For example, we haven't had much pressure in this area from bollworm and tobacco budworm. But as eradication sprays reduce the level of beneficials, the bollworm/budworm population may increase. And we may have more problems with insects like stinkbugs, for the same reason."

Back on the plus side, the 2002 Farm Bill may provide incentives for more insect scouting. Details haven't been hammered out yet, but USDA plans to make money available for crop scouting in the Environmental Quality Incentive Programs.

Related story: Building a scouting kit