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Crop scouting: don’t judge a book by its cover

An agronomist suggests farmers should extensively scout their crop fields the rest of the growing season.

Jon Skinner, regional agronomy manager with Beck’s, says he relates it to never judging a book by its cover.

“I’ve walked fields that look like they are going to have record yields and I’ve walked fields that it looks good in the husk, but then you pull it back and we’re starting to see kernel abortion, mispollination, tip back and things like that.”

He tells Brownfield he’s seen variability in crop conditions across the Corn Belt.

“We have a lot of down the row inconsistencies,” Skinner said. “Even plant-to-plant within the same field.”

Skinner says scouting will also help producers make the needed adjustments for the next growing season.

He spoke to Brownfield at Beck’s Iowa Field Show on Tuesday.