ISRC faculty research affiliate Silvina Arias, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, along with others involved in her project funded by the ISRC, held a field day at ISU’s Sorenson Research Farm near Boone, Iowa on June 5, 2026. Arias’s project titled, “Application of Innovative Intercropping Practices to Increase Soybean Production in Iowa,” explores which winter/spring small grains and oilseed crops are best paired with soybean and how relay intercropping systems can help improve profitability for farmers by growing more than one crop and exploring benefits to soil health.
Arias’s research team included Shrishail Navi and Leonor Leandro, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology and Mark Licht, agronomy. Other participants providing insights on the project included Iowa farmer Jason Russell, Matt Leavitt, an agronomist with the University of Minnesota's Forever Green Initiative; Anna Teeter, Novel Oilseeds Program Manager with Cargill; Mike Fiscus, ISU Farms and Ben Knutson, USDA and Fernando Marcos of the Remote Sensing and Imaging Lab.
The field day featured tours of large-scale research plots, demonstrations of precision agriculture technology, and discussions about emerging crops and market opportunities. "Our goal is to explore systems that maintain soybean production while improving environmental outcomes," said Mark Licht, ISRC Co-director. "These projects help us think differently about how crops can work together in the field."
Russell, who farms near Monticello in northeast Iowa, explained some of the benefits he’s experienced from relay intercropping with cereal rye, including the prevention of water runoff and nitrate loss, grazing opportunities for his cattle, less need for herbicides, and a small improvement in his corn yield from the nitrogen captured from the previous year’s soybean crop. "When people ask how much rain I got, I tell them all of it, because it soaked in instead of running off," said Russell.
Leavitt, an agronomist with the University of Minnesota's Forever Green Initiative, who is working on a pilot program with oilseed crops explained a couple benefits to intercropping: winter camelina helps suppress soybean cyst nematode and that there is no need to modify existing farming equipment. Leavitt stressed, “Three important considerations to growing oilseed crops are 1) site selection, as oilseed crops prefer well-drained soils (tiled or sandy), 2) storage and 3) carry-over chemistry.” Leavitt admits one challenge to meeting the demand of the biofuel market is that building the infrastructure takes time.
Teeter provided some insight into the growing demand for renewable fuels, especially sustainable aviation fuel, over the next ten years and the need for global flexibility as biofuels scale up. She sees camelina, in particular, as a benefit to farmers since it’s safe to feed poultry and beef.
The research team on this project is looking to secure additional funding to further study the impacts of intercropping and the benefits to soybean, which so far has seen a reduction in soybean diseases and weed suppression. A podcast on the field day can be found via the Seed Science Center’s YouTube Channel.
