CCA Crop Management Systems 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In integrated crop management (ICM), pest control decisions are primarily based on:
- A fixed calendar spray schedule
- Economic thresholds and multiple pest management tactics (Correct answer)
- Eliminating all pest populations regardless of cost
- Exclusive use of biological control agents
Correct answer: Economic thresholds and multiple pest management tactics
ICM uses economic thresholds to decide when intervention is justified, combining biological, cultural, and chemical methods.
Question 2: A soybean field with a history of sudden death syndrome (SDS) would BEST benefit from which management strategy?
- Planting earlier to maximize pod set
- Selecting SDS-tolerant varieties and improving soil drainage (Correct answer)
- Applying foliar fungicides at R3 stage
- Increasing plant population to compensate for losses
Correct answer: Selecting SDS-tolerant varieties and improving soil drainage
SDS is driven by Fusarium virguliforme infection favored in wet, compacted soils, so varietal tolerance and drainage are the primary management tools.
Question 3: What distinguishes precision agriculture from conventional crop management?
- It eliminates the need for soil testing
- It applies inputs at variable rates based on within-field spatial variability (Correct answer)
- It relies solely on drone imagery for all management decisions
- It requires organic certification for implementation
Correct answer: It applies inputs at variable rates based on within-field spatial variability
Precision agriculture uses GPS, sensors, and data analytics to apply inputs only where and in amounts they are needed across variable field zones.
Question 4: Which tillage system is most likely to cause long-term degradation of soil structure on a sloping field?
- No-till with cover crops
- Contour strip cropping
- Conventional moldboard plow tillage (Correct answer)
- Ridge-till with crop residue management
Correct answer: Conventional moldboard plow tillage
Moldboard plowing inverts the entire soil profile, destroys aggregates, eliminates surface residue, and dramatically increases erosion risk on slopes.
Question 5: The main purpose of a living mulch system in crop production is to:
- Increase cash crop seeding rates above normal recommendations
- Maintain a living ground cover between crop rows to suppress weeds and reduce erosion (Correct answer)
- Replace the need for herbicide applications entirely in all environments
- Provide a harvestable forage crop simultaneously with the grain crop
Correct answer: Maintain a living ground cover between crop rows to suppress weeds and reduce erosion
Living mulch keeps the soil covered with a low-growing species between crop rows, suppressing weeds and protecting soil from erosion.
Question 6: When designing a crop management system for a field with poorly drained soils, which practice should be prioritized FIRST?
- Increasing nitrogen application rates to offset yield drag
- Installing subsurface drainage tile before addressing other management factors (Correct answer)
- Switching immediately to a no-till system
- Selecting crops with extremely short maturity ratings
Correct answer: Installing subsurface drainage tile before addressing other management factors
Subsurface drainage is foundational on poorly drained soils because waterlogging limits root development, nutrient uptake, and fieldwork timeliness.
Question 7: Which statement about double-cropping systems (e.g., winter wheat followed by soybeans) is MOST accurate?
- Double cropping always increases total farm profit compared to single crops
- Success depends heavily on early wheat harvest, rapid field preparation, and soybean maturity group selection (Correct answer)
- Double cropping eliminates the need for fertilizer on the second crop
- Soybeans planted after wheat always yield equivalently to full-season soybeans
Correct answer: Success depends heavily on early wheat harvest, rapid field preparation, and soybean maturity group selection
Double-crop soybean success hinges on getting wheat harvested early, preparing the seedbed quickly, and choosing a maturity group that will reach R7 before frost.
CCA Crop Management Systems 3
In integrated crop management (ICM), pest control decisions are primarily based on: