Updated July 3, 2018:

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July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018 Annual Report: Breeding of Improved Non-GMO Cultivars and Germplasm

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ted Helms, Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University – Cooperating Scientists: Dr. Berlin Nelson, Department of Plant Pathology, North Dakota State University

This research had four broad objectives which included: i) to increase yield on IDC-prone soils and increase profit on those problem soils; ii) to enable private companies and growers to compare yield of SCN-resistant cultivars on sites that are infested with SCN; iii) provide soybean growers in North Dakota with cultivars which are genetically superior to cultivars that are currently grown; iv) collection of grain samples from the Variety Fee Tests and reporting the protein and oil data in the NDSU Soybean Performance bulletin

Growers benefit when varieties from different companies are compared at the same field sites because this enables growers to increase yield on fields that have soil or pest problems. In 2017, yield data was collected on 40 private company Xtend and RR2 varieties at three sites that had IDC symptoms. Averaged across the Hunter, Leonard, and Colfax, ND locations for 2017, the range of yield varied from a low of 14.3 bu/A for an IDC susceptible company variety to a high of 32.0 bu/A for an IDC tolerant company variety.

In 2017, four sites that were infested with Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) were planted with 40 Xtend and RR2 company varieties to test for SCN resistance. Yield varied from a low of 32.8 to a high of 54.4 bu/acre. An additional experiment was planted to evaluate 14 Liberty Link and non-GMO cultivars at four sites that were infested with SCN. The four SCN-infested soil test sites included Absaraka, Colfax, Galesburg, and Prosper, ND. This data was published in the ‘North Dakota Soybean Performance Bulletin (A-843) and also online.

In 2017, grain samples for protein and oil analyses were collected for all company varieties entered in the LaMoure, Northwood, Grandin, Arthur, Fairmount, and Walcott, ND testing sites. These samples were analyzed and the data was reported in the North Dakota Soybean Performance Bulletin (A-843).

A new variety ‘ND Stutsman’ was released in January of 2017. ND Stutsman is a non-GMO variety with high yield, good IDC tolerance, resistance to lodging, and resistance to race 3 of phytophthora root rot. A second new variety, ‘ND Benson’ was released in January of 2017. ND Benson is a non-GMO variety with good yield, good IDC tolerance, resistance to lodging, resistance to races 3 & 4 of phytophthora root rot, and excellent SCN resistance.

The NDSU breeding program provides growers with the option of growing non-GMO varieties. Growers have the option of purchasing non-GMO varieties that have been developed by North Dakota State University without paying a ‘technology fee’ and can then save their own seed. Past success by NDSU in the development of non-GMO varieties for the oilseed market includes ‘ND Henson’, ‘ND Stutsman’ and ‘ND Benson’. The non-GMO varieties developed by NDSU provide growers with an alternative to the use of glyphosate and permit different herbicides to be rotated in soybean fields across different years.