Update:
ISRC events:
A spring farm tour was hosted by the ISRC on March 29. We took nine ISU researchers on a one-day trip that included a visit to the North Central Cooperative in Clarion, Iowa and the Hertz Farm Management Office in Nevada, Iowa. The first stop included a visit of the main elevator site for the North Central Cooperative. John Holmes welcomed our group and Angie Rieck-Hinz, an ISU Extension Field Specialist in this county, joined us. John and his team talked about the grain elevator business as well as its expansion into the ag retailing business. Our group was given a virtual tour of the company’s other grain elevator locations around the area and we were able to walk around the elevator’s weigh station area to see how a grain load is weighed and sampled. After lunch, we were hosted by Dick Pringnitz on a tour of the Hertz Farm Management Offices in Nevada, Iowa. Dick and his colleague, Tim Fevold, provided an overview on the history of the company and how farm management has changed for them since its origin in 1946. Dick and Tim walked us through the building pointing out when and where the building expanded as their business grew.
In late June, the ISRC hosted a summer field tour through north central Iowa for ISU soybean researchers. The trip began with a visit and tour of the Van Diest Supply Co. in Webster City. Then we had lunch and a tour of the ISU Northern Research and Demonstration Farm in Kanawha. We were joined there by Dean Coleman, ASA Board Member from Humboldt, and Heather Lilienthal and Bre Wagner of ISA’s Producer Services team. The day concluded with a visit with Dan Beenken, former ISA Board Member, at his farm near Buffalo Center where he talked with the group about farming with his sons and business partners, his seed and equipment dealers, etc. Dan had several pieces of his farm equipment on display for tour participants to see. The second day of the tour was spent talking to Amy and Harlan Asmus and touring Asmus Farm Supply in Rake, learning about their business, which provides inputs and services to the soybean farmers of north central Iowa. Allie Arp, ISA Communications, traveled with the group and wrote the following article, “A Better Perspective on Production Research,” for the July 17, 2018, ISA Research Advance e-newsletter. The article can also be found on the ISRC’s website, http://www.iowasoybeancenter.org/, under the Multi-media tab, Articles. Plans are underway for a fall field tour in September/October 2018.
The center’s Management Team met in early July to discuss research funding support. The team had three research proposals to consider for funding. Because the ISRC management team meeting occurred before the ISRC Industry Advisory Council (IAC) meeting on August 24, the Management Team tentatively approved financial support of the three proposals, each at different levels, as long as the Advisory Council also supported funding them. Then the center’s Industry Advisory Committee met on August 24, 2018, to discuss the three projects recommended for funding by the Management Team. One project received resounding support and there also was good support for funding the other two projects. The Management Team gave final approval for funding of the three projects through an email vote that concluded on September 14.
The Advanced Teaching and Research Building (ATRB) opened on the ISU campus in May 2018. The building houses a majority of the ISU scientists who work on soybean insects and pathogens. The ISRC has been hosting tours of the new building, showcasing the new research labs and greenhouse to representatives of agricultural companies including Valent, Trace Genomics and Winfield United. These meetings were initiated by Steve May to promote interest from industry in becoming formal partners with the center. Greg will be meeting with scientists from Monsanto, Solum and Corteva in September and October to discuss research and the possibility of having the companies become partners in the ISRC. Additionally, Steve May and Greg have arranged meetings with ag companies attending the Farm Progress Show, August 28-30.
The ISRC’s meeting coordination activities:
• Clarke McGrath, ISRC’s extension and on-farm research coordinator, hosts on-farm discussions between Scott Nelson, ISA, and Mike Witt, ISU Research Farms, to develop collaborations between the three groups.
• Jill Cornelis, ISRC’s program coordinator, helped organize the North Central 1197: Practical Management of Nematodes on Corn, Soybeans and Other Crops of Regional Importance multi-state group meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico this past July. Greg Tylka is a member of the group and was charged with organizing and leading this year’s meeting.
• The ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council meeting was held at the ISA Offices on August 24. Current ag industry partners Cornelius Seed, Monsanto, and Bayer CropScience had representatives participate along with two of the three farmer representatives; Chuck White and Steve Berger. Discussion topics included: 1) consideration for new research funding opportunities, 2) a new partnership program, and 3) an update from Drs. Danny Singh and Gwyn Beattie on their current funded research project, “Root and Microbiome Traits to Tailor the Next-Gen Soybean Cultivars.”
Other activities:
The ISRC is coordinating the 2018 USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) SCN survey of Iowa fields. Last year, 2017, the center worked with Greg Thessen and his team from the NASS to conduct a survey in which their field staff collected soil samples from randomly selected fields across Iowa, then sent them into Greg’s lab for processing. Greg and Jill are again working with NASS on this year’s soil collection. With assistance from the Brenton Center, Greg created a video explaining how to collect soil samples from a soybean field. The team from NASS will use the video during their training sessions to their field staff this fall.
Upcoming events
• The ISRC is finalizing plans to host a fall field tour for ISU researchers on November 27. The tour will include visits to Solum Labs (Ames, Iowa), the Iowa Soybean Association (Ankeny, Iowa), and the Entomology and Plant Science Bureau of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship (Ankeny, Iowa).
• ISU’s College of Ag and Life Sciences and the ISRC are collaborating to host a reception for the ISA at the new Advanced Teaching and Research Building.
• A new office location in Agronomy Hall is in the future for the ISRC.
The Iowa Soybean Research Center at Iowa State University (ISU) works to foster research cooperation and synergies among Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), ISU, and private industry and to obtain industry funding for soybean research to leverage funding provided by ISA and ISU. The Center also works to coordinate all soybean-research-related activities at ISU and to organize educational events for our soybean checkoff partners and for ISU faculty, students and staff. Numerous activities, detailed above, were conducted to meet the center's goals and objectives in the past 12 months.