What are the best crop scouting blogs for learning practical crop health monitoring during the growing season?

Here are some of the best crop scouting blogs and online resources for learning practical crop health monitoring during the growing season. I’ve focused on sources that are useful for field-level scouting, pest/disease ID, nutrient issues, and decision-making—not just general agronomy news.

Top crop scouting blogs / resources

1. CropWatch (University of Nebraska–Lincoln)

• Why it’s good: Very practical, field-oriented updates on pests, diseases, crop staging, and in-season issues.
• Best for: Corn, soybean, sorghum, wheat scouting in the Midwest.
• Strengths: Timely pest alerts, photos, scouting guides, extension-backed recommendations.

2. Pest&Crop (Purdue University)

• Why it’s good: One of the most useful weekly scouting-style blogs for corn and soybean.
• Best for: In-season insect, disease, and weed scouting.
• Strengths: Highly actionable, often written for people actually walking fields.

3. CropProtection Network / Extension disease resources

• Why it’s good: Excellent for identifying and managing crop diseases during the season.
• Best for: Multi-crop disease scouting.
• Strengths: Strong visuals, disease lifecycle info, regional relevance.
• Note: More of a resource hub than a single blog, but extremely useful.

4. Iowa State University Integrated Crop Management News

• Why it’s good: Very practical articles on crop scouting, pest thresholds, and crop stress diagnosis.
• Best for: Corn and soybean, especially in the Corn Belt.
• Strengths: Clear field symptoms, good photo examples, lots of “what to look for now” content.

5. Michigan State University Extension – Field Crops News

• Why it’s good: Strong scouting and crop health monitoring content, especially for disease and insect updates.
• Best for: Corn, soybean, wheat, dry beans.
• Strengths: Regular season updates, regional pest alerts, practical diagnosis.

6. University of Illinois – Pest and Crop Newsletter

• Why it’s good: Classic crop scouting publication with very actionable seasonal observations.
• Best for: Corn/soybean scouting.
• Strengths: Scouting thresholds, pest pressure, disease progression, field observations.

7. UNL CropWatch / NDSU / South Dakota State Extension crop updates

• Why it’s good: Excellent for the northern Plains where conditions differ from the Corn Belt.
• Best for: Corn, soybeans, wheat, sunflower, canola.
• Strengths: Regional pest pressure, weather-linked crop stress, disease risk alerts.

8. University extension blogs for local row crops

Look for your state’s extension crop blog/news section. The best ones are often:

• Kansas State Research and Extension
• Purdue Extension
• Ohio State Agronomic Crops
• Penn State Field Crop News
• Wisconsin Crops and Soils
• North Carolina Cooperative Extension field crop updates

These are especially valuable because scouting advice is often location-specific.

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Strong general agronomy/scouting websites

These aren’t always “blogs” in the strict sense, but they’re great for learning crop health monitoring:

9. The Farmer’s Edge / crop intelligence resources

• Good for scouting concepts, data-driven crop health monitoring, and in-season decision support.

10. Farm Progress

• More commercial/news-oriented, but often has practical in-season crop scouting articles and interviews with agronomists.

11. AgFax

• Useful for regional agronomy and pest/disease updates, especially during the season.

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If you want the most practical learning, prioritize these

If your goal is to become better at walking fields and spotting issues early, start with:

1. Pest&Crop (Purdue)
2. CropWatch (Nebraska)
3. Iowa State Integrated Crop Management
4. University of Illinois Pest and Crop
5. Your local state extension crop newsletter

These tend to be the most directly useful for real scouting decisions.

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What to look for in a good crop scouting blog

A good crop scouting resource should have:

• Field photos of symptoms and pests
• Timing guidance (“what to scout for this week”)
• Thresholds and action recommendations
• Regional relevance
• Updates tied to crop stage and weather
• Clear separation of insect, disease, weed, and nutrient issues

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Best way to use these blogs

A useful routine during the season:

• Check weekly
• Compare blog updates with your crop stage
• Scout fields after rain, heat stress, or rapid growth
• Use the photos to confirm whether symptoms are insect, disease, nutrient, or herbicide injury
• Track pest pressure over time instead of reacting to one symptom

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If you want, I can also give you:

1. a shortlist by crop (corn, soybeans, wheat, vegetables, etc.),
2. the best blogs by region/state, or
3. a beginner crop scouting reading list with the most useful articles first.