Remote sensing has been available for decades but continues to become more available and useful to crop producers in managing their field. Remote sensing data provides assessment of crop production fields during the growing season when some management decisions may be made to address the problem as it is occurring. Coupled with other field information, the remote sensing data may be used to identify the cause of the anomaly which may be problems such as soil moisture, weeds or fertility. Also it can increase the efficiency of crop scouting by locating anomalies in the production fields for focused ground evaluation.

Since 1997 remote sensing data have been collected on three production fields north of Madison, WI, while ground data were collected including yield monitor, plant population and plant height. Four fields have been added since the start of the study. Numerous anomalies were identified in the remote sensing data and related to ground data collected. As in the past, many anomalies were due to operator error and changes in management. In addition to the discussion of the field results, some background information on remote sensing will be provided.