The Digital age of Pest Control

Corn rootworms, soybean aphids, and that stubborn waterhemp are as much a part of Illinois agriculture as the soil itself. But here’s the good news: the digital age is flipping the script on pest control. Forget blanket sprays — tech is bringing precision and smarts to the fight. Let’s look at how real players in the industry are making it happen and what it means for the Cornbelt. 

Drones Take Flight: John Deere’s Aerial Advantage

Drones are no longer sci-fi—they’re scouting fields right now. John Deere has been pushing its drone tech hard through partnerships like its work with Volocopter. These drones decked out with multispectral cameras, buzz over crops to spot trouble early.  The drones flag stressed plants, and allow farmers to reduce insecticide on acres untouched by pests, saving cash and keeping the rest untouched. For Illinois’ sprawling corn and soybean acres, this kind of targeted intel is a game-changer.

AI Steps Up: Corteva’s Predictive Power

Everyone has heard the buzz about Artificial Intelligence, but how does it apply to farmers? Corteva Agriscience rolled out its Granular Insights platform with AI that predicts pest threats. Picture this: it pulls weather data, pest biology, and field history to warn you about soybean aphids before they swarm. The result? Using half the pesticide and still pulling the same yields. For central Illinois, where aphids love our soybean fields, AI’s foresight is bound to change the way we’ll tackle different outbreaks. 

Smart Sprayers: Case IH’s Weed-Zapping Precision

When it’s time to strike, smart sprayers are rewriting the rules. Case IH (as well as John Deere), has been testing its Patriot sprayers with See & Spray tech from Blue River Technology. These rigs use cameras and machine learning to tell crops from weeds, zapping only the bad guys. In 2021 in a trial against waterhemp—Illinois’ herbicide-resistant nightmare—researchers were able to cut herbicide use by 60%, according to a University of Illinois trial. That’s less chemical drift loss and more money in farmers' pockets. Precision like this is tailor-made for our patchwork fields.

Real Results: Bayer’s Digital Farming Playbook

Bayer’s Climate FieldView platform ties it all together—drones, AI, you name it. The platform crunches drone imagery and soil data, then guides the sprayer to hit only the hot zones. Bayer says users are seeing pesticide cuts of up to 70% while keeping yields steady. It’s not just about efficiency; it’s about keeping our land and water clean. With Illinois pushing for sustainable ag, this kind of tech is putting farmers ahead of the curve.

The Bigger Picture: Challenges and Wins

Resistant pests like Waterhemp aren’t slowing down, and climate shifts are messing with bug patterns. Tech from companies like Deere, Corteva, and Case IH is helping farmers adapt fast. The Illinois Farm Bureau’s been hosting demo days to get growers comfortable with these tools—proof it’s not just for the big farmers. 

Our Take:

As pest control becomes more efficient, it is important to find what is best to budget into your operation. With inputs being one of the most important costs for farmers to manage, slashing the amount of product needed to create the same yields is a must for profitability. In Farmland Stock Exchange’s: Land Ledger podcast we will do all we can to interview industry leaders in pest control, bringing this information to light for our farmers.

Check out our latest episode of the podcast here: