Innovative agronomy tools and resources: Pests

Nicolle Ritchie<ritchi67@msu.edu>, Michigan State University Extension - June 09, 2026

Innovation and adaptability are important for farm success. Explore these free tools and resources on improving pest forecasting, identification and monitoring.

Numerous alfalfa weevil larvae collected in a sweep net are visible among alfalfa leaves and stems. — Photo by Nicolle Ritchie, MSU Extension

Being able to innovate and adapt is important for farm success, but it can be overwhelming to make changes. A good tool or resource should make your life easier in some way. It might inform decision-making, simplify calculations or analyze and organize data in a practical way. It should be user-friendly, affordable and reliable or trustworthy. The following is a list of free tools and resources on improving pest forecasting, identification and monitoring. It is not an exhaustive list but a starting point.

Integrated pest management

Integrated pest management (IPM) is the use of multiple methods to control or manage a pest. IPM also depends on thresholds, which consider the economic cost of management and the need to manage the pest based on potential crop loss. Crop protection products, or pesticides, are a chemical form of pest management, and they are one of the more flexible costs for growers. Because IPM is so broad, these tools are subdivided into multiple categories. Read the article “Innovative agronomy tools and resources: Pesticides” for other IPM tools and resources.

Pest forecasting

Crop Risk Tool: A tool from the Crop Protection Network that predicts disease risk based on the weather forecast for corn, soybeans, wheat and more crops.

Vegetable Disease and Insect Forecasting Network: A tool from the University of Wisconsin—Madison that predicts disease and insect risks based on weather data.

MSU Enviroweather models: Available as a website or an app. Provides flight predictions and degree-day calculations for select pests using MSU Enviroweather stations throughout Michigan.

Pest ID and monitoring

PictureThis app: Weed identification app from Glority. Decently good at identifying broadleaf weeds. For more information on this and other weed identification apps, read “Plant identification? There’s an app for that—actually several!” Free and paid options.

Agri-Pest Identification: Weed and insect identification website from Iowa State University. Good at identifying broadleaf weeds. Using this for insect identification is less reliable.

Disease Severity and Insect Defoliation Training: From the Crop Protection Network, a sliding scale of disease severity to train your eye to detect plant damage. After training, take the quiz to see how well you can identify the disease or defoliation severity.

Soybean Defoliation Estimation Exercise: From Ohio State University (OSU), all the steps of estimating soybean defoliation with helpful reference photos for training your eye.

Pest Management Guide for Field Crops Insects: Updated in 2025 by Michigan State University Extension and Ohio State University, this field guide lists various insecticide products and pest damage, scouting, threshold and management information. Each chapter focuses on a different crop.

Suction Trap Network: Trap data collected by the University of Georgia with various collaborators on some aphid and leafhopper species. Select a site to see past insect and current insect counts.

Great Lakes and Maritimes Pest Monitoring Network: Public trap data collected by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness with various regional collaborators on various field crops pests, including true armyworm, black cutworm and western bean cutworm.

An older red barn and adjacent outbuilding sit beside a rural road, surrounded by grass and fields under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds. — Photo by Nicolle Ritchie, MSU Extension

Fun!

This bonus tool is a quiz to test your field crop identification skills. Take it yourself and send it to your friends and neighbors to improve agricultural awareness in a fun way.

Field Crops Identification Quiz: Take this quiz to test your field crops identification skills from afar. Focused specifically on field crops in southwest Michigan. Train yourself first with the article “Drive-by crop identification in southwest Michigan” from Michigan State University Extension.

MSU Extension Field Crops