Weed scouting is getting tougher these days as new "faces" show up in your fields. Early identification of problem weeds can give you a leg up on control - and with the challenge of resistant weeds advance warning can help. Penton Farm Progress has developed a new Weed ID app for your smartphone (Apple iOS now, Android to follow soon) that provides key information to help you scout and identify weeds.

The picture-focused Weed ID app approach gives users the opportunity, when they find an unfamiliar weed, to identify that pest early. New problems that appear in your fields will be easier to spot and the new app offers two different approaches for weed identification.

ID APP: Users can choose gallery or photo view (left), select weeds by time of year, crop and location (center) and find weed images at different growth stages for best scouting results.

The first method in the Weed ID app allows you to search for weeds by crop, location, month and family (grass or broadleaf). This provides  a quick list of potential weeds that you should see in your location at that time. Eliminate the "known" weeds from the list and then you can look at the gallery of weeds left to help identify what you find.

The second approach allows you to take a picture of the weed with your phone and do some comparison with the gallery of weeds provided. The app offers tips on taking the best photo for comparison.

The Weed ID app gallery offers views of weeds in three stages, early seedling, later season and fully mature weeds. The most important view is that early seedling look at the weed, it's there that control measures are often most effective, but if weeds escape those other images are helpful in finding the best match to your image.

As weed scouting fires up this season, having this app on your smartphone can be a helpful tool. When you identify the weed, you'll get information about it's potential for resistance, it's growth habit and best control techniques. Download it today.