Spring 2025 has arrived, and the InnerPlant team is excited to kick off our CropVoice scouting reports. Once the season is underway in May, you can expect two scouting reports per month.
Our first two pre-season reports (this week and early next week) will set the stage for the season with details about the team and technology that will be helping to protect your crops. Central to that effort is our agronomy team led by Robert “Bob” Starke, Ph.D., and Tristan Mueller. You’ll see a lot of them during the season, both in the fields and in the scouting reports, as Bob spearheads agronomy services for Illinois and Tristan leads agronomy services in Nebraska.
Bob Starke, Ph.D.
Bob is based in St. Louis and is InnerPlant’s Agronomy Services Lead. He’s the linchpin establishing the CropVoice network, by guiding plot selection leading up to the growing season and overseeing field operations. He also provides agronomic input for our twice-monthly scouting reports and manages the research plots we rely on for trait development.
Bob grew up on a small farm in northwest Missouri and received his Bachelor’s in Agronomy and Crop Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He received his Master’s from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. All three of his degrees were in Agronomy and Crop Science.
Bob spent 20 years in various research and agronomy roles at Monsanto before it was purchased by Bayer, where he spent another six years in leadership roles, including leading one of Bayer’s research centers in Hawai’i.
Bob enjoys traveling and visiting US landmarks, and boating.
“I’m excited to kick off the CropVoice season and to see how it could change how and when growers make fungicide applications,” Bob says of the coming season. “I’m particularly looking forward to helping farmers make decisions from an educated standpoint so they’re confident and know they’re getting ROI on their soybean crop.”
Tristan Mueller, M.S.
Tristan is InnerPlant’s Field Plant Pathologist. He’s headquartered in Sheboygan, WI. He’s supporting the rollout of the CropVoice network and spearheading InnerPlant’s agronomy program in Northeast Nebraska that includes twice-monthly scouting reports to enrolled farmers.
Tristan grew up on his family’s farm in Wisconsin. Tristan received his Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Master’s in Crop Science (Plant Pathology) from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Tristan previously worked as a Station Scientist at Bayer, On-Farm Network Operations Manager for the Iowa Soybean Association, and Director of Global Field Development for BioConsotia. Most recently, Tristan was the Senior Field Trial Manager for Pivot Bio.
Tristan enjoys spending time with his family, fishing, hiking, woodworking, and playing sports.
“Completing the disease triangle has always been a challenge for agronomists as we’ve lacked real-time data about the host,” Tristan points out. “Closing that triangle with CropVoice by collecting data directly from plant physiology promises a huge step forward for making confident management decisions in season.”