Have you ever wondered what a particular plant or insect is in your field, yard, or garden? We have all been there, and we have great news: a new tool is available for farmers everywhere! Iowa State University's Pest ID App is now available. Developed by ISU researchers, the Pest ID app uses deep learning models trained on millions of images to recognize weeds and insects directly from your photo.

It was only a matter of time before this article needed to be written. Yesterday, we scouted a field in Des Moines County in southeast Iowa. The short story: red crown rot (RCR) was identified in a swath stretching across part of the field. In talking with the farmer, he noted that the same area had shown up on the yield monitor map two years ago, but he assumed it was sudden death syndrome (SDS).

Agronomists across the state are opening corn ears for yield and disease assessments and are surprised by western bean cutworm larvae feeding inside. Western bean cutworm is one of several caterpillars found in corn ears this time of year, but people are seeing them more frequently in recent years. Western bean cutworm was historically a common pest that caused economic injury to corn in Iowa in the early 2000s, but sightings have been rare since 2009.

The buzz around Palmer amaranth may have quieted it down compared to several years ago, but it is still important to keep your eyes out for this weed. Two new Palmer amaranth sites were confirmed in Johnson and Washington counties just this summer. If a new infestation is found, it is still possible to prevent the establishment and spread of Palmer amaranth in a field. Early identification, coupled with a focus on preventing seed drop and spread is critical.

Red crown rot (RCR) of soybean has NOT yet been found in Iowa, but it has cropped up in several neighboring states. RCR is fairly widespread across Illinois and has been identified in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (Fig 1). It is likely only a matter of time before RCR is identified in Iowa.