📘 Screen: Pest Class
The class is the "drawer" where each pest is kept: Caterpillars, Mites, Beetles, Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses, Nematodes, Broadleaf Weeds, Grass Weeds. Instead of working with a loose list of sixty items, scouting works by class — and the class is what organizes the choice in the field app, the order in which items appear and how the results are read afterwards.
It is the first scouting record: without a class you cannot register a pest, because the class is a required field of Pest.
📍 Location in the system
Menu: Basic > Pest Class
🧩 Main function
Group pests, diseases, weeds and assessments into categories, defining the order in which they appear to the person in the field.
📝 Main fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name/Description | Required. The name of the class as a crop scout would recognize it: "Caterpillars", "Mites", "Fungi", "Broadleaf Weeds". |
| Type | Required. Separates what the class represents — pest, disease, weed or assessment. This is what makes "Fungi" and "Bacteria" read as diseases, and "Caterpillars" and "Beetles" as pests. |
| Code | Short identifier, for when classes come from another system. On most farms it is left blank. |
| Order | Number that sets the class's position in the list, instead of alphabetical order. Repeated numbers are accepted — just number consistently within each type. |
| Active | Uncheck it to remove the class from the lists without deleting the pests already in it. |
The list shows Code, Description, Type, Order and Active, with search on each column.
🧭 How to divide the classes
A good division is the one the crop scout already has in mind. A well-built base usually looks something like this: Caterpillars, Beetles, Mites and Others on the pest side; Fungi, Bacteria, Viruses and Nematodes on the disease side; Broadleaf Weeds and Grass Weeds for weeds.
Notice they are few and obvious. A "Pests" class with thirty items inside, or fifteen classes with two pests each, get in the way just the same. If scouting is slow because the crop scout scrolls through the list looking for the item, it is almost always the classes that are poorly divided.
This is also the place for things that are not crop enemies but are measured at the point — such as a class like Detailed Cotton Phenology, used to record the plant's growth stage along with the rest of the scouting.
- The crop scout finds the pest in two taps, without scrolling a long list
- Pests, diseases, weeds and assessments are kept separate from the start
- The order of the classes reflects what the farm scouts most often
❓ Frequently asked questions
What goes in as an "Assessment" instead of a pest?
Anything the crop scout measures at the point that is not a crop enemy: plant height, stand, number of nodes, number of bolls, plant growth stage. The Assessment type makes these items follow the same scouting flow without mixing with the pest counts when the results are read.
What is the Order field for?
To set the position in which the class appears to the person in the field. Give the classes the farm scouts every day the lowest numbers; rare ones go at the end of the list. Without an order, the list stays in the default sequence and the crop scout wastes time looking.
Do I need to fill in the Code?
No. It is only useful when the classes came from another system and need to keep that system's code. On most farms the field is left empty, and the class is identified by its name.
Can I delete a class I no longer use?
Only if no pest is linked to it. If there is one, uncheck the Active field: the class disappears from the selection lists and older pests keep the classification they had in the history.