AgWired first introduced us to ScoutPro back in 2011 but the company has come a long way since then.

ScoutPro co-founder Stuart McCulloh says the company started by three entrepreneurial Iowa State University students is now full service crop scouting program. At the recent Commodity Classic the company announced the apps are now a free download because, as McCulloh points out, everyone is scouting crops in some capacity.

“We’re all out there checking on what’s going on,” he says.  “We’re getting kind of a mental picture of what needs to happen or what we need to be on the look out, so why not have something there that helps take a little bit better, a little more consistent notes.  Why not have that iPad there to identify a disease that maybe you’re not familiar with or a weed that kind of popped up randomly and you’re not quite sure what it is.  So really empowering growers to do scouting and take those scouting reports to whomever they want to use for their application needs.”

And ScoutPro is useful for more than just the summer season. Growers gearing up for planting season will find value in the ability to pull maps from last year and analyze diseases or problems to prepare early on for this year.

Making better informed decisions is the end goal, because the people behind this product understand that every farmer is already busy. They already have their hands full with new products and services and technology. So why ScoutPro? “Because you’re doing this anyway,” McCulloh tells growers.

To learn more about the ScoutPro service check out their website at www.scoutpro.org, or follow them on social media to see what’s new. You can also listen to the full interview to hear more about the apps and the program: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/scoutpro-2.mp3″ text=”Interview with Stuart McCulloh, ScoutPro”]