Getting growers to go digital: The power of a positive user experience

There are major advantages to using web-based applications in the promotion of IPM among stakeholders. For example, using mobile devices to access automated sampling plans for arthropods in cropping systems increases the awareness of including economic thresholds in treatment decisions. Although use of a threshold can require tedious sampling, it can reduce both the use of pesticides applied in cropping systems and reduce grower inputs. We found from the 2012 OSU Winter Crop School, that 72% of participants own mobile devices with data plans. When this particular group was asked to complete a digital version of a cereal aphid sampling plan on their mobile device, their willingness to incorporate sampling plans to make management decisions increased by 30% post exercise. Consequently, when crop school participants were asked about their willingness to share field data with other users, their willingness increased by 88% post exercise. This exercise demonstrated the importance of overcoming communication barriers using a web-based application for increased adoption of IPM.