InnerPlant achieves first real-time detection of soybean fungal infection

InnerPlant has successfully detected and alerted farmers to a fungal infection in soybeans weeks before visible symptoms appeared, giving growers crucial time to protect their crops. InnerPlant’s technology, which detects pathogens by tapping into plants’ immune systems, can identify optical signals from infected crops from distances as far as space. The company’s CropVoice product was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2024.

The detection occurred in Yankton County, South Dakota, and northern Cedar County, Nebraska, through InnerPlant’s CropVoice disease alert network, which uses genetically engineered soybeans designed to emit optical signals when under pathogen attack.

“This detection is the first time in the 10,000-year history of agriculture that an infection was detected in real-time and farmers notified of the threat,” said Shely Aronov, CEO and co-founder of InnerPlant.

Dylan Tacke, a Nebraska agronomy sales representative who received one of the first alerts, said the early warning gave him confidence to act. “I knew I was going to spray for white mold, but I wasn’t sure about when,” Tacke said. “When I got the alert, I knew that it was time, and it was good to have confirmation before putting money down in the field.”

The technology works by deploying InnerSoy sensors—soybeans engineered to signal when infected—throughout fields. The network combines these plant signals with laboratory analysis, field scouting, local agronomic expertise, weather data, and advanced modeling to send farmers text alerts when active infections are detected nearby.

InnerPlant’s network currently covers 50,000 acres across Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. The company announced it will scale to over half a million acres in 2026 through resale agreements with major agricultural retailers.

Brandon Hunnicutt, a large Nebraska farmer, said the system addresses a critical need. “Farming involves a great deal of risk—from weather to insects to disease—and often we lack real-time data to make well-informed decisions,” Hunnicutt said. “CropVoice takes the guesswork out of soybean fungicide decisions by giving a warning of infection early enough to take action and protect yields.”

The network is supported by a field team with more than 60 years of combined agronomy experience and eight Ph.D.s. Farmers can subscribe to CropVoice through select local agricultural retailers.