ISRC staff attended the Iowa Soybean Association’s summer Productivity Committee meeting on July 1, 2025. Director Greg Tylka gave an update on the center, introduced new co-directors Mark Licht and Steve Whitham and mentioned the center’s upcoming activities for August, which is Soybean Month in Iowa. Also attending the meeting to provide department updates from Iowa State were Mary Wiedenhoeft, agronomy, Steve Harris, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology and Josh Peschel, agricultural and biosystems engineering. In addition, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Associate Dean for Research and Discovery Danny Singh provided an update on his soybean breeding program.

The next day, the full ISA board met to review and approve funding for 15 research projects at Iowa State, which are:

Sotirios Archontoulis, principal investigator (PI), agronomy, co-PIs Carolina Freitas, Mark Licht and Michael Castellano, agronomy: “Continuous Soybean Production with Rye Cover Crop”

Thomas Baum, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Translating Basic Research Knowledge into Soybean Resistance to the Soybean Cyst Nematode”

Madan Bhattacharyya, PI, agronomy: “Bioengineering of an NLR Gene for Creating Robust SDS Resistance in Soybean”

Michael Castellano, PI, agronomy, co-PIs Sotirios Archontoulis and Melissa Miller, agronomy: “Leveraging the Iowa Nitrogen Initiative to Understand the Effects of Corn Residue Management on Soybean Production and Water Quality””

Erin Hodgson, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, co-PI Matt O’Neal, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology and advisor Brad Coates, USDA-ARS: “Turning Soybean Aphid Management Around”

Erin Hodgson, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, co-PI Aaron Gassmann, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Value of Diversified Management to Reduce Yield Losses from Insect Pests”

Katherine Kral-O'Brien, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, co-PI Matt O'Neal, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Identifying Pollinators and Resource Use in Corn-Soybean Based Crop Rotations”

Mark Licht, principal investigator (PI), agronomy, co-PI Fernando Marcos: “Amplifying ISA Investment through Science for Success”        

Mark Licht, PI, agronomy, co-PI Daren Mueller, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Early Planting and Maturity Group Dynamics for Soybean Yield Enhancement in Iowa”

Daren Mueller, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, co-PIs Mark Licht, agronomy and Edgar Neito-Lopez, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Soybean Disease Management: Foliar Fungicides, Biological Fungicides, and Fungicide Resistance” 

Richard Roth, PI, agronomy, co-PIs Mark Licht and Larousse Dorissant, agronomy: “Influence of Tillage, Nutrient Placement, and Seeding Method on Soybean Growth and Development”

Richard Roth, PI, agronomy, co-PIs Mark Licht and Larousse Dorissant, agronomy: “Optimizing Sulfur Management in Iowa Soybeans: When, Where, and How Much?”

Pranav Shrotriya, PI, mechanical engineering, co-PIs Olga Zabotina, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology and Asheesh “Danny” Singh, agronomy: “Electrochemical Impedance Based 4D Mapping of Soybean Plant Root and Growth”

Asheesh “Danny” Singh, PI, agronomy, co-PIs Arti Singh, agronomy, Baskar Ganapathysubramanian and Soumik Sarkar, mechanical engineering, Daren Mueller, Matt O’Neal and Greg Tylka, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Breeding High Yielding Soybean Cultivars for Iowa Farmers”

Greg Tylka, PI, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology: “Improving Profitability for Iowa Soybean Farmers with In-field Evaluations of SCN-resistant Soybean Varieties and Seed Treatments”

“The soybean farmer-directors are excited about the quantity and quality of the proposals submitted for funding from Iowa Soybean Association and the great work occurring with researchers and the impact that farmers should see in their own fields over time,” said Joe McClure, chief officer, Research Center for Farming Innovation, Iowa Soybean Association.

Each project will be entered into the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database where readers can learn about the projects’ researchers, budget, objectives and experimental plans as well as read semi-annual progress reports and final results including explanations of how farmers will benefit from the work.