Crop scouting in late August often will not result in immediate management decisions. However, taking notes on what you observe now can provide valuable information moving in to harvest and confirm or reprioritize agronomic goals for next year. There are many things to take note of and questions to ask. What diseases are the most prevalent? Do you see any areas of the field exhibiting poor growth or yield potential? Do I want to conduct a pre-harvest yield estimate? I have a few suggestions for your late season scouting and I want to make sure you have the newest Nebraska Corn and Soybean Pocket Field Guide with you.
Evaluate areas of poor crop growth and potential yield. There can be multiple reasoning while portions of the field did not grow well including soil fertility or health. Mark on a map or GPS reference the location so you can take directed soil samples this fall after harvest. You can usually learn more by taking paired samples, one composite soil sample in the poor growth area and then take another composite sample in an area of good growth close by in the same field. You can pick up soil sample bags and borrow a soil probe from our Extension offices in Wilber, Fairbury, and Beatrice. Yield maps are another great data layer to compare what you observed during scouting in late August.
Observe the severity and distribution of diseases, insects, and weeds in a field to help make future adjustments to pest management plans. For example, southern corn rust and bacterial leaf streak were two diseases found in cornfields this year. Hybrid selection for improved tolerance or resistance to these diseases maybe something to talk about with your seed dealer this fall. Some differences in drought-tolerance may be evident between soybean varieties and corn hybrids this year, which may help inform selection for next year.
Fine-tune your preharvest yield estimate process to help plan storage and marketing. I have personally fine-tuned my process for conducting pre-harvest yield estimates for corn and soybeans over the years. The Market Journal TV team and I collaborated to create two short how-to videos for estimating corn and soybean yields. You can watch these videos and download the preharvest soybean yield estimator in Excel at https://croptechcafe.org/soybean-and-corn-preharvest-yield-estimates/ in a blog post.
Get a free Nebraska Corn and Soybean Pocket Field Guide from our Extension offices in Wilber (306 W 3rd St), Fairbury (517 F St), or Beatrice (115 West Scott St). counties. Nebraska Extension, Nebraska Soybean Checkoff, and Nebraska Corn Board created the pocket guides in 2017 and updated it again in 2019. I used purchased numerous copies with local Extension funds so that these guides are available to farmers and agronomists in Saline, Jefferson, and Gage counties. Make sure to have this guide in your back pocket before you head out into the field! For more information and other agronomic resources from Nebraska Extension, contact me at or 402-821-1722. Know your crop, know your tech, know your bottom line.
