AI-Powered Scouting Tools Are Becoming Essential for Modern Agronomy

Few segments of the ag industry have evolved as quickly or been impacted as deeply by artificial intelligence (AI) as scouting tools.

“Scouting tools have been available since we’ve had iPhones and Androids, so scouting tools and collecting data with them is nothing new,” says Jenni Fridgen, Agronomic Sales Manager, Nutrien. “Scouting technology has significantly changed through the advancement of how data is collected and utilized to make management decisions. Data today can be spatially captured throughout a field with georeferenced information, which expands the capabilities for sub-field management decisions or even large-scale forecasting/modeling of pest or disease trends.

“AI allows us to be quicker and more actionable with our recommendations when we utilize drone technology or scouting apps,” Fridgen continues. “The biggest barrier to using technology is translating data into timely and recommendation-ready solutions, and because of AI, that is now a real possibility for us in the retail industry.”

Technology can help remove variability and bias to ensure reliability.

“Scouting should be consistent, a habit, and comprehensive,” says Dr. Roland Leatherwood, Crop Nutrition Lead at The Mosaic Co. “Approach it like ‘single point of failure analysis,’ the same way NASA uses it. For NASA the idea is to find the one thing that could go wrong that will cause mission failure. For farmers it means ranking say the top five pest, nutritional, or crop stress issues that could impact yield. Then build your scouting plan around those top issues. If you go out knowing the top risks, you’ll do a lot better catching them early with a plan already at hand.”

AI continues to advance, but for now, often requires a human to walk a field to verify what the technology sees. Smart phones and tablets are the interface between technology and scout.

“There has been improvement in how scouting results are efficiently communicated back to retailers and growers,” Leatherwood says. “Also, on the ground tools for identifying pests or issues in the field have improved greatly. GPS, smartphones, tablets, and software are all very helpful in improving the efficiency of the process.”

Due to their ability to identify and help solve myriad concerns: “Scouting tools have moved from being interesting to being necessary,” says Libby Rens, US Digital Farming Technical Agronomy Manager — BASF. “What was once a technology for curious growers has become a highly useful component of modern farm management.”

“Tools like xarvio FIELD MANAGER make it possible to monitor crop performance, optimize seeding rates, build customized management zones and identify high- and low-performing zones within fields,” Rens continues. “Many agronomists now rely on scouting tools not just to observe crop health, but to also verify practices or participate in sustainability and carbon programs. Ultimately, digital scouting has become a core component of how agronomists support confident, data-backed decisions, helping them protect yield potential and profitability.”

Information to Action

Every year retailers and their grower-customers have access to increasing amounts of data. The challenge has been figuring out how to manage and manipulate that data and turn it into action. With the recent explosion and adoption of AI, the traditional tools have evolved providing the industry with smart technology.

“Along with scouting being a core workflow in a larger solution vs. siloed,” says Scott Cogdill, Head of Agworld North America. “Access to historical and real time data has ever increased to allow the end user with a much more complete picture of the historical and real time data from integrated solutions. As scouting value props have evolved so have the solutions from a hyper-localized, moment-in-time observation, to an integral part of progressing a crop plan.

“Scouting tools have evolved from being simple observation apps only a couple of years ago, to becoming the connector between field activity and business management now,” Cogdill continues. “Where scouting tools were just used to log pests or disease observations, now this scouting data can be used a lot more to drive in-season decision making processes around input applications, irrigations, etc. So, instead of having a separate ‘data silo’ for scouting data, it is now part of a larger solution where info can be shared across an organization and used collaboratively to drive future decisions.”

“2026 will show that creating the ability for ‘sensible use’ of AI will become important,” he continues. “Instead of trying to aim for a ‘digital agronomist’, we’ll start to see a gradual inclusion of AI in existing products to enhance their use. So, instead of aiming for ‘total disruption’, the focus for AI will switch to enhancing the speed and quality of existing tools and platforms.”

Changing Marketplace

Scouting tools continue to evolve, but the number of players in the segment is diminishing, Cogdill says.

“The scouting tool market is currently maturing; instead of seeing a lot of new entrants to the market, there’s a rationalization of existing tools through exits, consolidation, and integration,” he says. “All of this is reshaping the competitive landscape for better and worse for advisors and growers.”

According to Nutrien’s Fridgen: “Opportunities that will help grow the market will come from the continued use of ag technology (drones, scouting apps) combined with AI — again, quicker and actionable sub-acre recommendations with proven ROI will push the market to be dependent on these tools.”

However, retailers and their grower-customers view scouting, Mosaic’s Leatherwood suggests they: “Take a comprehensive approach to scouting that covers all factors of crop production, nutrition, pests and disease, as well as possible stress conditions the crop might face. Review with the grower, any prior years’ concerns and integrate those recurring issues into the scouting plan. Visit known problem areas but also, follow a zigzag pattern or similar for other areas to assure you’re capturing a random sample. Lastly, bring not just the latest, but also the most effective tools to bear on the job. That means hand lenses, sample bags, soil probes as well as drones, etc.”