Crop Lookout

How to Use Crop Lookout

Crop Lookout is an interactive, real-time mapping tool that tracks emerging crop issues across the United States and Canada. Powered by a network of university Extension specialists, researchers, and agricultural professionals, this map visualizes reports of diseases, pests, and abiotic challenges as they develop throughout the growing season.

By bringing together verified field observations and aggregated data from trusted sources, Crop Lookout helps farmers, agronomists, and industry professionals stay informed about what’s happening beyond their own fields. Users can explore issues by crop, region, and timeframe—gaining valuable context to support timely, research-based decision-making and proactive crop management.

Crop Lookout is designed to provide a high-level, real-time snapshot of emerging crop issues across the United States and Canada. It is intended to help users quickly identify trends and stay aware of developing concerns during the current growing season.

This tool should not be used as a substitute for long-term or historical disease and pest tracking resources. Certain issues—such as soybean cyst nematode, Reniform nematode, southern root-knot nematode, and red crown rot—are typically persistent once established in a region and may not be consistently represented on this map year to year.

For comprehensive, long-term insights into these and other established issues, we encourage users to explore our issue-specific maps, which provide more complete historical data and regional context.

View Current Crop Issue Reports

Latest Bulletins

Red Crown Rot Sighted Across Illinois

September 15, 2026

Red crown rot of soybean is the dominant issue in the latest Crop Lookout observations, with numerous reports from across Illinois. Observations span counties throughout the state, highlighting a broad distribution of reported red crown rot observations as the soybean growing season moves toward its later stages.

Tar Spot and Corn Leaf Hopper Sighted in Recent Reports

September 10, 2026

Tar spot of corn was the most frequently reported issue in the latest Crop Lookout observations, with reports from Indiana, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. Indiana showed a notable concentration of tar spot observations, while South Dakota also had multiple reports across the state.

South Dakota was particularly interesting, with both tar spot and southern corn rust reported in Minnehaha and Lincoln counties during the same reporting period. Corn leafhopper was also observed in Nebraska, including reports from Scotts Bluff and Lincoln counties.

Tar Spot Continues Across a Broad Region in Latest Crop Lookout Reports

September 8, 2026

Tar spot of corn continues to be the dominant issue in the latest Crop Lookout observations, with reports spanning South Dakota, Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The broad geographic distribution highlights the continued observation of tar spot across portions of the Great Plains, Midwest, and eastern United States as the growing season moves into September.