You can choose chapters you feel are most important, and the templates are excellent places to begin when you design the format of a computerized record keeping system. Sample size also affects the accuracy of scouting and records. Sample size, or the number of samples required to make an accurate estimation, depends on the variability of pest distribution in a field or throughout the farm. You must be familiar with the pest, and choose samples randomly. If the sample counts are similar, you will need fewer samples to accurately estimate the pest population.
Pest distribution is directly related to the uniformity of the field.
Random sampling is best done using a sampling pattern, the path a scout follows while making the field portraits and close-ups. Random sampling helps give a representative objective assessment of the field. This pattern allows accurate estimation of insects, weeds and diseases that characteristically spread throughout the entire field. Pattern 2 is best described as a profile or side view of a field. Pattern 3 is perimeter sampling, and is useful for identifying insects, weeds and diseases that move in from other fields or appear on field edges first.