The North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) has been funding soybean research since 1992. It’s supported by checkoff dollars provided by 12 state checkoff boards in the upper Midwest. States and their universities involved include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Learn more here.

The mission of the NCSRP is to maximize producer returns by coordinating regional research efforts, minimizing duplication of research, and assuring that regional research projects target problems faced by producer in the region. It is led by a board of farmer directors.

The NCSRP Board approved the following research projects for funding for fiscal year 2017. The areas emphasized for the coming year are soybean diseases, soybean cyst nematode, soybean entomology, and genetic and biotechnology studies toward the improvement of host resistance and yield, and outreach.

Projects funded for FY2016 and FY2017 can be viewed here.

FY2017 funded projects:

1. An Integrated Approach to Enhance Durability of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) Resistance for Long-Term Strategic SCN Management
2. Benchmarking Soybean Production Systems in the North-Central USA
3. Biology and Control of Sclerotinia Stem Rot
4. Characterization and Enhancement of Soybean Genetic Resources for Soilborne Disease Resistance
5. Characterization of Phytophthora sojae and Phytophthora sansameana populations in the north central region and an assessment of management strategies
6. Developing an Integrated Management and Communication Plan for Soybean Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) in the North-Central Region
7. Exploiting Potential Biocontrol Agents to Manage Seedling Diseases of Soybean
8. Improving our Understanding of Stem Canker and How to Manage it in Soybean Across the Midwest
9. Increasing the Rate of Genetic Gain for Yield in Soybean Breeding Programs
10. Second SCN Coalition: Resistance Management and Awareness Campaign
11. Seedling Diseases: Biology, Management and Education
12. Soybean Entomology in the North-Central Region: Management and Outreach for New and Existing Pests
13. Soybean Extension Group: Bringing Science to Farmers

FY2016 completed projects:

1. Accelerating Soybean Yield Improvement by Utilizing Yield Genes from Wild Relatives
2. Accelerating Soybean Yield and Composition Improvement Through Genomic Selection
3. Breeding to Improve Resistance to SDS in Soybean as a Means to Protect Yield – Delivering Resistant Varieties and Lines
4. Development of Soybean Genotypes with Enhanced Capacity for Nitrogen Fixation
5. Disease Study Group: Focus on New and Emerging Soybean Diseases
6. Engineered Resistance to SCN via Induced Gene Silencing
7. Evaluation and Development of a Biological Control Product to Control Sudden Death Syndrome and White Mold
8. Identifying High-Yield Genotypes in the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection
9. Increasing Profits Through Genetic Resistance to SDS
10. Initiation of a Genomic Selection Pipeline for Public Soybean Breeders in the North-Central Region
11. Iron Deficiency Chlorosis: Getting to the Root of the Problem
12. Micronutrients for Soybean Production: A Position Paper for the North-Central Region
13. Understanding the Role of Fungicide Programs on Soybean Health and Charcoal Rot Development

The 2016 final reports are available here.

Soybean agronomist Daniel Davidson, Ph.D. posts blogs on agronomy-related topics. Feel free to contact him at djdavidson@agwrite.com or ring him at 402-649-5919.