Agronomist for Pioneer®. Profile and tweets are my own and not of my employer. Also own and operate a few acres in tandem with the family farm.
Wisconsin
Joined February 2009
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How much is corn growing in 24 hours right now? Spray some plants and see. Great visual to demonstrate crop growth. (Picked this up from someone on Twitter this weekend so thank you)
Ryan Bates retweeted
Closing the books on our Century of Innovation plots at North Platte. Grabbed at few ears, to tell some of the story. Bigger story is populations that started in hill plots, then 5-15k to day’s 36k. Also the late season stalks and kernel wts are vastly improved over time. @PioneerSeeds
Ryan Bates retweeted
Great study Troy is doing. This is what we seen from doing this a couple of years ago.
Do the leaves below the ear contribute to yield???
The old text books would say no, however in today's high yield environment keeping as much of the photosynthetic factor is likely essential.
This morning I did the last "leaf removal" treatment to test the theory. Removing all leaves below the ear at 1st sign of dent 2 weeks ago... now the same at 1/2 milk line. Will weigh the ears come harvest.
Several Pioneer agronomists did this 3-4 years ago, but much earlier.. R3 stage.
Pics from that study are below with the ears. Corn pics are from this morning.
At R3 leaf removal, caused kernel abortion and large yield losses.
At dent, won't lose kernels but will likely lose kernel depth and weight.
Stayed tuned for results in about a month!
Ryan Bates retweeted
Universal @JohnDeere GreenStar hardware history @MNFarmfest We added a StarFire 6000 after this.
Missing a few but not many. Has driven some fun conversations – at Redwood Falls, MN
Ryan Bates retweeted
Southern corn rust has picked up in July, but 2026 is still running below the faster-spreading years at this point in the season.
The latest seasonal spread chart shows the cumulative number of U.S. counties with a confirmed positive detection rising to around 60 by late July.
At the same stage of the season:
• 2026 is running above 2022 and 2023
• 2026 remains below 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2024
• 2025 still stands out as the highest and fastest-spreading year in this comparison
The year-to-date GIF map and spread chart both show that southern corn rust is expanding, but the 2026 progression remains well below the more widespread years so far.
For grain traders, the key question is whether the late-July pace carries into August.
Source: EDDMapS / Crop Protection Network
#OOTT #AgWx #SouthernRust #Corn #CornBelt #GrainMarkets
Ryan Bates retweeted
@PioneerSeeds did an Awesome job with the 100th Anniversary day at the Princeton production plant. The timeliness plot was so cool!!🇺🇸🌽🇺🇸
Ryan Bates retweeted
Eric took the stage at UNC Chapel Hill to deliver a commencement speech to the next generation of Tar Heels, sharing a message for the graduates as they step into what comes next.
Watch the speech in its entirety here: youtube.com/watch?v=pSYEDc7-…
Ryan Bates retweeted
For those considering purchase of a "biological" for soil P liberation, this overview is an essential read, "Phosphate-solubilising microorganisms for improved crop productivity: a critical assessment" nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/…
h/t @karidunfield
Ryan Bates retweeted
Lake Erie is currently 96% ice-covered. 🧊
Within a few days, it could very well hit 100%. That has not happened in 30 years.
Ryan Bates retweeted
The news is out: Introducing ArrowTube™
ArrowTube maximizes each plant's ability to emerge uniformly and capture sunlight by placing seeds in an optimal orientation without sacrificing depth, spacing or singulation, boosting yield potential.
Learn more ‣ precisionplanting.com/produc…
Ryan Bates retweeted
The NCAA or NAIA football team with the best record in each state for the 2025 season:
Ryan Bates retweeted
UW–River Falls @UWRFFootball didn’t win the D3 national title by reinventing their offense.
They won by evolving it with discipline.
How OC @CoachJMath protected identity, layered answers, and built clarity under pressure.
Read more: coachandcoordinator.com/2026…
Ryan Bates retweeted
Another one for QB1. 🏆
After surpassing Joe Burrow’s record of 6039 yards (2019), Kaleb Blaha is officially the record holder in all of college football for total offense in a single-season.
#falconfootball
Ryan Bates retweeted
Congratulations to the 2025 Gagliardi Trophy presented by Stearns Bank winner, @UWRFFalcons quarterback Kaleb Blaha!
#GagliardiTrophy | #d3fb
Ryan Bates retweeted
Soy trading firms to abandon Amazon protection pact in Brazil - reuters.com/sustainability/s…
Ryan Bates retweeted
Winners of the @WISoybean Yield Contest! badgercropnetwork.com/winner…