Soybean growers are racing the calendar this spring, planting earlier than ever in a bid to unlock bigger yields and stay ahead of tight margins. But, how’s the best way to manage those early-planted beans?
According to Dr. Eric Scherder, Crop Protection Technical Lead at Corteva Agriscience, that shift is being driven by today’s more resilient soybean varieties, which are giving farmers greater confidence to plant earlier and capture more of the growing season.
“There’s a lot on growers’ minds—input costs, how do we manage all that and be profitable with what we’re doing—and the first thing a lot of growers are thinking about is early-planted soybeans. They can optimize that yield—and we have! We really figured it out. We’ve got good genetics, really good seed treatments—when we get them up, we got to make sure we’re protecting them from weeds,” says Scherder.
That’s why he recommends several herbicides to help protect yields in the fall for those early-planted beans.
“Using a product like Kyber® Pro, which we just launched about a year ago, or Sonic® Boom is going to give you that 6 to 8 weeks residual. Now, why is that important? Well, you think about early-planted beans—when we get them up, it takes about 21 days. We’ve used that 3 weeks of residual. By the time you get to spraying, it’s only V1 or V2—growers don’t like spraying that early. That’s a long season. So, by having that lengthy residual, you get it further in the season.
“You can also come in with a product like Enlist One® glufosinate, and then we’re going to top it off a little bit of Enversa™—it’s an encapsulated acetochlor. Now, that’s going to get us all the way there to that R1 stage,” he says.
In a season where every input decision carries added weight, Scherder says the key is building a flexible, layered weed control program that matches the demands of early-planted soybeans. By combining strong residual products upfront with effective post-emergence options, growers can extend protection deeper into the growing season and safeguard yield potential.
Ultimately, he says having multiple herbicide solutions ready to deploy gives farmers the confidence to adapt to changing field conditions—turning Corteva’s lineup into a true “toolbelt” for navigating the challenges and opportunities of the 2026 soybean crop.
Learn more about these herbicides and other crop protection products from Corteva by visiting their website: www.Corteva.us.
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