Following is a brief overview of some of the center’s major accomplishments and activities as it celebrates its successes and important partnerships. 

The ISRC was established at Iowa State University with approval of the Iowa Board of Regents on July 1, 2014, in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association. Dr. Greg Tylka, Iowa State University professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, was appointed the center’s first Director. The center’s first industry partners were Bayer, Cornelius Seed and Monsanto. The ISRC began funding soybean research projects in 2015. 

In 2017 the center expanded its efforts to include education and outreach activities and it hosted its first annual farm and industry tour for Iowa State faculty, graduate students and staff. Over the years, tours organized and offered by the center have visited several family farming operations in different parts of Iowa, a virtual tour series of Corteva during the Covid pandemic and visits to numerous agriculture-associated industries such as Kemin Industries in Des Moines and the Syngenta Seed Institute in Stanton, MN, to name a few. 

After five years of supporting soybean research (2015-2020), the ISRC had 10 industry partners and had awarded $1 million in funding. 

In 2021, the ISRC organized and held the first-of-its-kind SoyFest event on the ISU campus. The purpose of SoyFest is to educate undergraduate students on the importance of soy and its many and varied uses in our lives. This fun, outdoor, fair-like event is held biennially during National Soybean Month (August) and in the first week of fall classes at ISU. SoyFest typically has more than 15 tents and displays with games, samples of various soy-foods, giveaways, informative exhibits and a cookout featuring pork burgers (“animal-processed soybeans”) and veggie burgers containing soy protein.

Also in 2021, the center started an annual volunteer activity in partnership with Meals from the Heartland. Volunteers, mostly from ISU, helped package meals for individuals in need of nutritious food. The meals contained soy protein flour. Cargill generously sponsored purchase of the meal ingredients in 2021 and continues to do so, allowing us to make this an annual event. Meals from the Heartland is based in Des Moines and works to end food insecurity. Coincidentally, they also are celebrating their 10th anniversary in 2024. Many of the meals packaged during the center’s events were distributed throughout Iowa, including to the ISU campus food pantry S.H.O.P. Also, some meals packaged at the ISRC-organized event were shipped internationally to places where natural and humanitarian disasters occurred, such as to Haiti and the Ukraine.

By 2022, the center had awarded more than $2 million in research funding, had successfully recruited 20 industry partners and had over 40 faculty research affiliates. 

During its first decade, the center supported a total of 22 research projects related to soybean production, providing nearly $3 million in funding. In January of 2024 Dr. Asheesh “Danny” Singh, Iowa State professor of agronomy and soybean breeding expert, joined the ISRC as Co-director.

In May 2024 the ISRC held its first omelet breakfast for ISU students in recognition of National Egg Month. Soybean protein is a component of chicken feed, thus the connection of eggs to the center. ISRC hosted the free event in collaboration with the Iowa Egg Council, the Iowa Food and Family Project, North Central Poultry Association and the Iowa Soybean Association. Omelets were served at ISU’s Memorial Union the week before finals. 

We would like to acknowledge and offer our sincere appreciation for the incredible support generously provided to the center by the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Iowa Soybean Association, our many industry partners and our numerous faculty research affiliates. The center would not have achieved its high level of success and national recognition without such support. Also, very special thanks are extended to the Keith and Virginia Smith family for their continued support of the center’s communications efforts.