Innovative Colorado Potato Beetle Scouting

Enhance your scouting and management of Colorado Potato Beetles while reducing spraying costs with the AgroScout solution

What is the difference between the AgroScout Scouting solution and regular scouting?

AgroScout uses drones with a specialized agricultural design to scout fields, eliminating the need for manual scouting. These drones can cover 60 times more area than a human scout and can access every point in the field, even in dense canopy and muddy soil conditions. They fly at a height of 6 feet (2 meters) above the canopy and capture high-resolution images, which are later analyzed to detect Colorado potato beetles. Additionally, as the drone flies just above the canopy, its propellers can disturb the leaves, sometimes revealing beetle eggs.

What is the scouting result?

Once the images have been uploaded into the AgroScout system, our innovative AI detects and counts Colorado potato beetles in each picture. It differentiates between larvae and adults and generates an automatic report that includes the findings and infestation levels. The report will also identify any foliar diseases, such as late blight, early blight, viruses, and bacterial diseases. Based on this report, you can see where and how many beetles are present in the field, complete with a heat map.

Where can I see the results?

Once the A.I. completes its task, you will automatically receive a PDF report via email. This process typically takes between 45 minutes to a couple of hours. 

You can also view the report on both the AgroScout Desktop and Mobile Apps. 

With the Desktop App, you can generate heatmaps based on your specified thresholds and create variable rate maps for precision spraying using a drone or tractor. 

The Mobile App allows you to navigate to hotspots that were severely damaged and confirm your findings.

What does AgroScout Colorado Potato Beetle's best practice look like?

Based on our experience, we recommend scouting each field at least six times throughout the season, particularly during the mid-season.

The beetle typically migrates from nearby fields or natural vegetation and is first detected along the field boundaries. To address this, we have developed a scouting pattern that focuses intensively on the corridors at the field's borders. This approach will help farmers understand where the beetles are coming from.

As the beetle population becomes established, we suggest adjusting the scouting method to cover the entire field using a statistical or zig-zag pattern.

Additionally, we recommend scheduling drone scouting at the same times you usually scout on foot. The idea behind using AgroScout is to improve efficiency and gather more information simultaneously.

How can we follow the population dynamics?

All pest and disease scouting activities you conduct are documented and saved in the AgroScout system. With the desktop app, you can enter your field results, navigate between dates, and compare results week by week. This provides you with a unique management perspective on beetle population dynamics, enabling you to make timely treatment decisions before yield is affected. Additionally, ongoing scouting after treatment reveals the results and effectiveness of the treatment.

What is the return on investment?

Improving Colorado Potato Beetle management allows for precise scheduling and application of treatments, ensuring they are administered on time and in the right locations. Timely spraying reduces the number of applications typically required, while targeted spot spraying minimizes chemical use, helps prevent the beetles from developing biological resistance, and enhances overall sustainability. 

Our customers report a reduction in chemical use of 65-85% thanks to our scouting solution.

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