The ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council (IAC) met in September for their annual meeting to consider a wide range of soybean research ideas and to provide guidance on how to best invest $300,000 in research funding. The IAC continues to grow with the addition of six new industry partners over the past year, making for a total of 17 industry partners represented on the council. This year also marks a $2 million milestone in research funding for the ISRC.

The IAC’s annual meeting opened with comments from ISU Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dan Robison followed by an update on the ISRC by Director Greg Tylka. Joffrey Mejias, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, from Thomas Baum’s Laboratory and Prashant Jha, agronomy, gave updates on the status of their projects funded by the ISRC. Several ISU scientists provided presentations on new research ideas followed by thoughtful discussion among the IAC’s farmer representatives, industry representatives and members of the ISRC’s management team.

Thanks to continued increases in financial support provided by the Iowa Soybean Association and an increase in the number of industry partners, the ISRC was able to fund the two projects described below.

Sotirios Archontoulis, professor of agronomy, will receive funding to develop field research locations and initiate study of a continuous soybean cropping system in Iowa. The project will collect and accumulate relevant knowledge to aid in decision-making in future years. Currently there are no soybean-after-soybean cropping system intensive research locations in Iowa. In Argentina, soybean after soybean is very common. Collaborating researchers on the project include Mark Licht and Mike Castellano, agronomy, Greg Tylka, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, and possibly others.

Gary Munkvold and Larry Halverson, professors of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, will receive funding to study the effects of soybean seed treatments on the seed and soil microbiome. Seed treatments are known to improve crop performance, but there is little information about exactly how they affect microbial colonization in the zone in the soil surrounding a seed as it germinates and how long these effects last. Researchers will study the reaction of soil microflora, including pathogens, to the presence of different seed treatment products on soybean seeds. The results will be valuable toward making decisions about seed treatment usage in soybean.

ISRC Director Greg Tylka said, “The ISRC appreciates the continued support of the Iowa Soybean Association and our industry partners and we thank the Iowa State researchers who submitted ideas. I am continually amazed at the high quality of the research ideas that are presented to the center and have noticed many researchers are now collaborating more, combining their talents and knowledge in different areas of expertise. We are also fortunate to have the engagement and insight from our farmer representatives, which carries a lot of weight with this group.”

“As membership on the ISRC Industry Advisory Council continues to grow, so do the contributions and commitment from insightful council members. There were many good, collaborative research ideas presented and it was interesting to see which projects the industry partners and the farmer representatives came to a consensus on,” said Ed Anderson, senior director of research for the Iowa Soybean Association and chair of the ISRC advisory council.