Know Your Staging for More Effective Scouting
Jun 09, 2026
Planting season is behind us, which means that scouting season is just beginning. Now more than ever, scouting weeds and potential diseases is vital to better understand your herbicide timing and get the maximum ROI on your investment.
“It’s time to go out and check your fields,” said Kevin Carlson, Federated’s agronomy sales manager. “Knowing where you are with weeds and disease will help you better understand how to move forward. It’ll help your Federated agronomist, too!”
While it’s very early in the season, we’re already anticipating several unwelcome guests rearing their heads this year. “Giant ragweed, yellow nutsedge, and waterhemp are the weeds we need to pay special attention to, in addition to regular weeds,” Carlson said. “They’re particularly problematic once they’ve germinated, so it’s a good idea to get ahead of them.”
These weeds are each difficult for different reasons, however. “We all know how resistant waterhemp is,” Carlson continued. “Giant ragweed is just a really tough animal. And nutsedge is a big issue because there’s only one or two chemicals that can control it. It’s better to scout and handle these now, before it’s too late.
Issues that can negatively impact yields, such as weeds, disease, insects, and other pests, can be particularly problematic during specific stages of a crop’s development. For the most effective scouting, it’s good to understand your crops’ growth stages.
“It’s a good time to revisit crop staging to ensure herbicide applications are being timed correctly,” Isaac Popp, retail sales agronomist at Brevant Seeds told us. “Various staging methods across the industry can create confusion—some reference the first rounded leaf as V1, while others define V1 as the first pointed leaf once the collar is present. It’s important that we are carefully reading product labels and aligning with the staging method specified.”
To better understand your crop’s growth stage, check out these valuable resources from Brevant and Corteva:
BREVANT SOYBEAN STAGING
As you’re scouting, be sure to input your information into your Federated FieldAlytics app. It’s the web-based system that we use to dispatch our custom applications and keep records. The app also helps you plan for the future.
If you have any questions about scouting, staging, or FieldAlytics, don’t hesitate to call your Federated Agronomist.