Row-Crop Pest Control and IPM Program

Open the field record in FieldView, Operations Center, or Agworld. Confirm V-stage or R-stage, prior pest pressure, last application date, and any residual herbicide on plant-back. Yesterday's notes from the scout drive today's threshold call.

Use a Z, W, or X pattern with at least 5 stops per 80 acres. Pull whole plants where appropriate; for soybean aphid count leaves, for corn rootworm dig roots, for white mold split stems. Avoid the field edge as your only sample — edge effects bias the count.

Use the published threshold for the pest and stage — soybean aphid at 250 per plant with rising population through R5, corn rootworm beetle at 0.75 per plant during silking, waterhemp at 4-inch height for post-emerge. Treating below threshold burns IPM credibility and accelerates resistance.

Check the FRAC, IRAC, or HRAC group on the label against the last two applications on this field. Repeating Group 14 PPO inhibitors or Group 9 glyphosate without rotation is how waterhemp populations went resistant. For organic-adjacent fields verify the product is OMRI-listed if relevant.

Flag organic neighbors, registered apiaries (DriftWatch / BeeCheck), surface water, wells, schools, and ESA-listed habitat (Bulletins Live! Two). Mark label-required buffer distances in the sprayer monitor. Drift onto a certified-organic field is a three-year decertification event for the neighbor.

Provide 24-48 hour notice where required by state law or label. For bee-toxic products applied during bloom, coordinate with the beekeeper to move or cover hives, and shift application to dusk or dawn when foragers are off.

Verify nozzle output at target boom pressure and ground speed; replace any nozzle more than 10% off the manifold average. For low-drift applications use AIXR, TTI, or ULD nozzles per label. Record the catch-test results.

Confirm boom height, downforce, and rate controller against the prescription map.

Chemical-resistant gloves, coveralls, eye protection, and respirator per label. Decontamination water, eyewash, soap, and clean towels on the sprayer. Spill kit with absorbent and shovel for loading-station spills.

Lock GPS to the field boundary and load the Rx file. Hold target speed and pressure; watch for skips and overlaps on the as-applied map. If wind shifts toward a sensitive area, pause and re-evaluate before resuming.

Capture field, date, time, product, EPA registration number, rate, total applied, applicator name and license number, target pest, REI, PHI, and weather conditions. Federal retention is 2 years; many states require 3-5. File in PestPilot, Agworld, or the binder before the state-required window (commonly 14-30 days).

Triple-rinse or pressure-rinse jugs per label and route to the Ag Container Recycling Council collection point. Capture rinsate at the wash pad and apply back to a labeled crop within label rates — never down a storm drain or onto bare ground near a wellhead.

Pull samples from the surviving population for the state extension diagnostic lab. Document the MOA group, rate, adjuvant, and conditions. Confirmed resistance changes next year's rotation plan and may trigger a Take Action stewardship report.