Large structural changes in tobacco cultivation practices have occurred in the previous several decades, including increasing farm size and geographic shifts in production. Current conventional production practices have reduced the significance of several pest insects, but Chloridea (Heliothis) virescens (F.) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) populations in pre-topped tobacco remains a management concern for growers. Scouting recommendations for C. virescens were initially established in the 1970s while the average tobacco farm acreage in NC increase an order of magnitude between 1982 and 2012. Current recommendations advise growers scout all fields even when geographically localized on a single farm. This study aimed to determine if growers could scout a single field in a field cluster and still make management decisions in line with sound IPM principles. We collected insect scouting data in tobacco for 8 farms in 2017 and 2018. We took two approaches to quantify differences between fields: 1) inferential statistics through a generalized linear model (GLM); and 2) artificial intelligence machine learning (ML) through the use of a support vector machine algorithm. GLM and ML analyses did not find differences between most fields. Growers can consider C. virescens abundance in a focal field accurate 99% of the time when compared with other fields. Further, we examined all fields within 750 m of a field cluster. We had 2 growers in 2017 and 2018 for this second analysis. Growers would make an accurate decision for all fields with in 750 m distance with focal field information 100% of cases.
