University of Maine
Cooperative Extension
Potato IPM Program

Prepared by:
James Dwyer, Crops Specialist
James Dill, Pest Management Specialist

Field scouting is a vital part of a farm's IPM program. Scouting involves systematically moving through the fields looking for pests, measuring populations and then using this information to make pest control decisions.

When scouting for insects it is important to obtain a random sample. However, the scout also need to ovserve and note any high population area in the field. Scounts should walk through a field in a "V", "X", or "M" pattern. Fifty to one hundred plants should be randomly selected for examination.