Classical approaches to the economics of pest management have focused almost exclusively on single-species models. This study develops and implements a methodology with which to evaluate multi-species, non-stochastic, managerial decisions subject to stochastic elements of the plant-insect system. Multi-species insect management strategies (combinations of scouting interval, threshold value, and choice of pesticide) are analyzed using a physiological mechanistic soybean plant growth model

more »

... to three insect population dynamics models. Preliminary results indicate that net returns are maximized and variance is reduced with lower thresholds and more frequent scouting than current recommendations.