The cost, safety, benefits, and risks of employing various management strategies are weighed and evaluated. Narrower row spacing favors development of plant diseases due to environmental conditions within the crop canopy. The margins flower earlier than the remaining field interiors and attract the red sunflower seed weevil first. Scouting involves a regular and methodical procedure to quantify field information needed to make sound pest management decisions. Field observations are used to make immediate IPM decisions as well as record part of the field's history for making rational decisions in the future.
Identification Properly identifying pests is an important aspect of scouting.
Natural enemies that help keep pests in check are also present in fields, so it is important to recognize these friends. For example, certain insects, such as Syrphid flies, may be abundant in a field but do not cause crop damage. Knowledge of specific insects, weeds, or diseases in a field is important for IPM decision-making. Pest levels can vary greatly from one field to another. Each individual field should be scouted thoroughly without bias even though the fields may appear similar.