As you begin planning conversations with growers this winter, last season’s field records can offer valuable insights to guide recommendations for spring inputs such as fertilizer and herbicide applications. Scouting reports and field maps may reveal problems that growers would rather leave behind with the previous growing season. However, understanding the clues left behind after harvest can help inform next year’s management decisions.
Use the slower winter months to review field maps, scouting reports, soil tests and application records to uncover where management strategies fell short and where your recommendations can help fill the gaps.
Use weed escape records to guide recommendations for spring herbicide applications
Winter scouting reports can help guide conversations about spring herbicide applications. Weeds that escaped control last season should influence herbicide selection, when to apply pre-emergent in spring and resistance management strategies.
Reviewing which weed species escaped control and where those escapes occurred can help you recommend more targeted herbicide programs. Recommend layering pre- and post-emergence herbicides to control a broader range of weeds, while using multiple modes of action against the same species to reduce selection pressure for herbicide resistance.
Also consider how differences in herbicide soil mobility, rainfall requirements and residual activity may affect performance under varying spring conditions.1
Turn yield and soil test history into better recommendations for fertilizer and nutrients
Fall and winter are great times for your growers to better understand nutrient needs for their crops. Soil tests can be done after harvest to reveal nutritional gaps in different zones of a field.
You can also recommend that growers look over several years’ worth of yield maps, soil tests and management practices to get a full picture of what’s happening in a field. Layering those maps and records can give you clues as to what issues may be causing low-yielding zones to perform poorly.
Steer the conversation toward comparing nutritional needs and local input costs. For example, show growers how to capitalize on nitrogen timing and application rates using updated recommendation calculators.2
Identify disease-prone acres before the growing season
Last season’s disease pressure can also indicate which fields may need extra attention in the coming growing season. Review scouting reports, crop rotation, hybrid and variety selection, and past disease outbreaks to identify fields with a history of disease problems.
These records can help guide preseason conversations about seed treatments, fungicide options and scouting priorities. Fields with a history of certain diseases like soybean sudden death syndrome may need closer monitoring, especially when susceptible varieties and favorable environmental conditions are present and foliar fungicides aren’t a treatment option.
However, diseases like southern rust in corn are heavily influenced by weather conditions and the spore movement into a region.3 While field history can inform your planning, in-season scouting and disease forecasts should guide decisions about whether and when fungicide applications are necessary.
Last season’s field records offer more than a look at what happened. They also show what worked, what didn’t and where management practices can improve. By turning those observations into field-specific herbicide, fungicide, fertilizer and nutrient recommendations, you can help growers enter the spring season with a more targeted crop management plan.
Experts are available to help you guide your winter planning conversations. Reach out to a nearby extension office agent or a seed company professional like your regional BASF representative.
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Endnotes
- Jones, Eric, and Philip Rozeboom. “Preemergence Herbicide Application Considerations for 2024.” South Dakota State University Extension, 29 Apr. 2024,https://extension.sdstate.edu/preemergence-herbicide-application-considerations-2024.
- LaBarge, Greg, and Manbir Rakkar. “Corn N Recommendations: Maximum Return to N Calculator Updated.” C.O.R.N. Newsletter, The Ohio State University Extension, 13 May 2025,https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2025-13/corn-n-recommendations-maximum-return-n-calculator-updated.
- Jackson-Ziems, Tamra, and Kyle Broderick. “Black Spots in Corn? Southern Rust, Tar Spot and More.” CropWatch, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 29 Aug. 2024,https://cropwatch.unl.edu/2024/black-spots-corn-southern-rust-tar-spot-and-more/.
