While scouting corn and soybean fields this summer, farmers and agribusiness professionals are encouraged to tweet a photo with the name of the crop disease, county, and state to either @corndisease or @soydisease. The purpose of this Twitter campaign is to track corn and soybean diseases throughout the country for a project called the Integrated Pest Information Platform for Education and Extension (iPiPE).
The goal of iPiPE is to eventually create a database where farmers can report and identify diseases for risk-based management and scouting efforts. The tweets of corn and soybean diseases this summer will help researchers put together prediction maps that can be used by the public in the future. Click here for more information about the iPiPE project and how you can participate.
In addition to viewing what other agronomists, crop consultants, and specialists are seeing in the fields, the @soydisease Twitter account is giving away a free field guide every Wednesday to one person who correctly identifies the soybean disease of the week!
If you need help identifying a crop disease, please contact the ISU Plant and Insect Diagnostic Clinic.
Related Links:
A Farmer's Guide to Soybean Diseases
A Farmer's Guide to Corn Diseases
Corn and Soybean Field Guide
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- Professor
- Extension Plant Pathologist