Corn and soybean disease pressures in 2026 was a tale of two crops, with the former seeing a high level of pressure and impact while the latter faced less, according to analysis from crop disease monitoring and biotech company InnerPlant.
Founded in 2018, InnerPlant uses gene-engineering crops that emit a fluorescent light when a disease is present, as AgNavigator reported previously. These gene-edited seeds are grown in over 60 test plots across the U.S., including in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and South Dakota, where InnerPlant monitors for emerging crop diseases.
InnerPlant shares these disease findings in the form of scouting reports through its CropVoice platform. Additionally, the company will expand access to these reports through a personalized control center for farmers, accessible via text, Gary Schaefer, chief commercial officer at InnerPlant, told AgNavigator.
This year, InnerPlant issued 19 soybean disease alerts, including for Cercospora leaf blight (CLB), frogeye leaf spot, white mold, sudden death syndrome, and Diaporthe, Schaefer noted. While soybean disease pressures were relatively moderate from an economic perspective, farmers often had to address multiple diseases and emerging threats at the same time, he added.
For instance, cases of CLB have increased across the Midwest. While the disease has not had a big impact on yields, the disease is showing up in reduced grain quality at harvest time, usually in the form of a purple stain on the grain, Schaefer explained.
“I don’t think it’s a disease that’s on many folks’ radar,” he pointed out.
While soybean disease pressures were moderate in 2026, corn growers have faced “extreme levels of disease pressure” in recent years, putting them in a tough position from a disease management perspective. InnerPlant is expanding its service into corn next year to help growers better respond to this threat.
For corn crops, “tar spot in Nebraska is the headline disease that is really challenging farmers, agronomists, and input providers. Everybody has to really think through what the right solution is here. And unfortunately, there’s just no silver bullet. And so, we have to help farmers know when this disease is infecting plants, how that disease is progressing, … and is it intensifying,” Schaefer elaborated.
InnerPlant has already sent its final seasonal report for the year, but the company plans to launch its 2027 forecast research in January or February, so farmers can prepare for disease pressures in the new year, Schaefer noted.
From a new facility to a new board member: How InnerPlant is preparing for growth
This year, InnerPlant has made progress on delivering its technology to more farmers, having provided CropVoice to 200 farmers across 140,000 acres of soybeans, helping them more accurately apply fungicides.
Additionally, 93% of 2026 customers have signed up for CropVoice next year, and the company plans to expand where the tech is sold from approximately 300 to 500 retail locations in 2027, Schaefer noted.
To support its expansion into additional crops and acres, InnerPlant has hired three agronomy sales managers and is opening a facility outside Des Moines, Iowa, which will serve as CropVoice’s commercial and operational center, Schaefer noted.
Additionally, InnerPlant welcomed John Deere’s VP of Product Management and User Experience, Doug Sauder, to its board of directors, where he will help guide CropVoice’s expansion.
“John Deere invested in InnerPlant because we saw a powerful opportunity to help farmers understand what is happening in their crops earlier and improve disease management. Together, InnerPlant’s living-sensor technology and John Deere’s digital tools and precision equipment can help farmers turn those insights into better decisions and timely action — protecting yield and using inputs more efficiently. I’m excited to represent John Deere on InnerPlant’s board and help deepen the collaboration between our two companies,” Sauder elaborated.
