This project would provide soybean farmers with improved non-GMO cultivars that have been developed by NDSU. Also, growers need information that enables them to select the best private company variety for their farm and to identify which varieties are best on Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN) infested soil and iron-deficiency chlorosis (IDC) prone soils. This project would provide yield results of variety testing on SCN-infested soils and soils that exhibit IDC symptoms. Protein and oil content of company varieties will also be provided. The NDSU soybean breeding program has a long history of providing very competitive varieties. There are many improved non-GMO experimental lines that are close to being released as named cultivars or as specialty release food grade varieties. The non-GMO breeding effort is very important as a source of high-yielding parents for use in the development of glyphosate-resistant cultivars and for specialty release to soy food companies.

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

Deliverable results include: i) development and release of non-GMO soybean varieties; ii) data will be provided to aid growers in identification of which private company varieties are best suited to their fields that are infested with SCN; iii) data that will be provided to aid growers in identification of which private company varieties are best suited their soils that are prone to IDC: iv) information will be provided that compares the protein and oil content of different private company varieties. The results of the IDC yield tests, and the SCN-infested soil tests and the protein and oil content of private and public varieties will be reported in the ‘North Dakota Soybean Performance Bulletin (A-843)’ and also online at https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/varietytrials/soybean.

Update:
Breeding of Improved Non-GMO Cultivars and Germplasm (2022)- Miranda

Objectives of the research: This research had four broad objectives which included: i) provide soybean growers in North Dakota with non-GMO cultivars which are genetically superior to cultivars that are currently grown; ii) to enable private companies and growers to compare yield of SCN-resistant cultivars and experimental lines at three North Dakota sites that are infested with SCN; iii) collection of grain samples from the Variety Fee Tests and reporting the protein and oil data in the NDSU Soybean Performance bulletin.

Completed work: The non-GMO program was about a third of the NDSU soybean program in 2022. Fifteen new populations that have a superior background were created that may eventually become new high yielding lines that also have other useful traits such as SCN and IDC resistance.

Resistance to soybean sudden death syndrome was initiated in 2021. These crosses were done in the nonGMO project in order to create hybridizations with SCN resistant lines. At the time the crosses were created in 2021, no glyphosate tolerant line was validated for SCN resistance. The goal is to develop lines that are proven to have SDS and SCN resistance and then use those lines as parents in glyphosate tolerant crosses while retaining excellent agronomic traits from the nonGMO project. These crosses are currently in the winter nursery in Puerto Rico. This will allow two generations of advancement during the North Dakota winter instead of one. In the summer of 2023, the F5 generation of these populations will be grown and in 2024 will be the first year of yield testing.

Selections for the first year of yield testing in 2023 are still being analyzed along with other data from the 2022 harvest. Results of the SCN variety fee tests and protein and oil results have been reported online at https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/varietytrials/soybean will be printed in the Soybean Variety Trials bulletin A-843.

Preliminary results: Hundreds of advanced lines of varying maturity were harvested in October 2022, that show promising resistance against IDC, SCN, and Phytophthora. These lines will be evaluated further for resistance through collaboration with other researchers. These lines, once validated, will become superior germplasm to introgress herbicide resistance genes into or be available for conventional variety release including soy food lines. SCN infested fields were harvested without incident in October 2022.

The first SDS and SCN resistant experimental populations are being advanced in the Puerto Rico winter nursery to expedite time to yield testing of these lines.

Work to be completed: Data harvested in 2022 is currently being analyzed for selections of promising lines. Advanced lines will be yield tested throughout the state in 2023 to ensure high yield and correct adaptation to specific regions of the state and ensure superior agronomic traits i.e. lodging resistance. Conventional lines will continue to be evaluated for yield and agronomic performance, in addition with specialty traits. Data collected from SCN infected fields was reported in the Soybean Variety Trials bulletin A-843.

Update:
Breeding of Improved Non-GMO Cultivars and Germplasm
Final Report June 2023
PI: Carrie Miranda

Objectives of the research: This research had four broad objectives which included: i) provide soybean growers in North Dakota with non-GMO cultivars which are genetically superior to cultivars that are currently grown; ii) to enable private companies and growers to compare yield of SCN-resistant cultivars and experimental lines at three North Dakota sites that are infested with SCN; iii) collection of grain samples from the Variety Fee Tests and reporting the protein and oil data in the NDSU Soybean Performance bulletin.

Updates: This project in 2023 will be renamed the NDSU core germplasm project. Within this project germplasm improvement including disease resistance gene stacking, abiotic stress gene stacking, and of course yield, will be focused on. These will be called “core traits”. A separate project will be used to integrate high value herbicide traits into core germplasm. The logic behind this is that many core traits such as yield are time consuming to breed for and require a lot of effort to characterize. However, for high value herbicide traits, they are relatively easy to introgress into core germplasm through backcrossing as they are typically a single gene (or behave as a single gene). This will allow improvement of core traits to be focused in one project, instead of duplicated efforts spread across several projects (ie conventional, RR1, Liberty….).

Completed work:
i) Four sub projects are included in the non-GMO project: Tofu, natto, conventional soybean, and SDS.

TOFU: Three lines have entered the final year of advanced yield trials. I contacted 3 potential food grade soybean companies if they are interested in testing/licensing. Brushvale Seed is testing one line. However, the seed size was not adequate and the maturity is too late for the other lines. These were previously known problems with the tofu lines in the program, and new materials have been created to improve maturity. The new tofu lines will be field tested in 2024. Nine new tofu populations that were initiated by the previous breeder Ted Helms will begin their first year of field testing in 2023. Most crosses are for improved SCN resistance or yield.

NATTO: Three natto lines were advanced into the final year of advanced yield trials. These three lines are being tested by Brushvale seed for potential licensing. Natto and tofu are typically released as specialty varieties because they need specific infrastructure to make it to market. The previous breeder stopped work on natto so there will be no new lines to field test in 2023 however, two populations I initiated by first year will be field tested in 2024.

CONVENTIONAL: Three lines are in 4th year (final) yield testing and eleven lines in 3rd year yield testing. Typical numbers for advancement would be 1-2 lines in 4th yr testing and 5 lines in 3rd year testing. The reason for the increase in entries to be tested is due to the impressive performance of so many lines. Unfortunately, the conventional lines aren’t usually released as varieties because there is no market demand for conventional lines however these will be used as parents in new crosses in 2023. In addition, they will be considered as top performers in the new core germplasm project and could become the first lines to have herbicide traits introgressed.

SDS: Six soybean sudden death (SDS) resistant lines will enter their last year of early generation advancement in 2023. These crosses were initiated by me in summer 2021 using a Minnesota line as the SDS donor. These lines will be tissue sampled and genotyped in July 2023. Genotyping will be for SDS resistance markers and SCN resistance markers.


ii) Data collected from SCN infected fields was reported in the Soybean Variety Trials bulletin A-843.
https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/north-dakota-soybean-variety-trial-results-2022-and-selection-guide

In 2023, there was a large increase in private company entries into SCN testing from 28 in 2021 to 38 entries in 2022 to 76 in 2023. I believe this is due to more breeding efforts for SCN resistant lines in the MG 00 and 0 maturity groups. However, this increase in entries is dramatic and consideration should be taken to determine if the soybean council should/ needs to continue subsidizing this testing.

iii) Data for protein and oil are also listed in the previously cited A-843 article. These funds were not requested for the 2023 fiscal year.

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This project has three main objectives i) provide soybean growers in North Dakota with non-GMO cultivars which are genetically superior to cultivars that are currently grown; ii) to enable private companies and growers to compare yield of SCN-resistant cultivars and experimental lines at three North Dakota sites that are infested with SCN; iii) collection of grain samples from the Variety Fee Tests and reporting the protein and oil data in the NDSU Soybean Performance bulletin.
i) Food grade tofu and natto lines have entered the final stage of yield testing. There is some interest in a few of the lines from private companies that specialize in food grade soybean. New lines will start testing in 2023 and 2024.
The conventional soybean program is continuing to be successful as the highest yielding lines in the program. This will be very useful as the program changes to become more efficient. As new herbicide traits are acquired they will be bred quickly into the superior conventional germplasm.
ii) Results from 2022 SCN variety testing can be found at https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/north-dakota-soybean-variety-trial-results-2022-and-selection-guide
Planting for the 2023 SCN variety tested has been completed and there were 76 private company entries.
iii) Results for protein and oil for private company testing can be found at https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/north-dakota-soybean-variety-trial-results-2022-and-selection-guide.
In the future, the soybean breeding program will implement new technology on our combine to record protein and oil at time of harvest. This will expand the amount of data we can collect while also saving on man hours for sample collecting and preparation.

Improved non-GMO soybean cultivars give growers the option reducing their input costs by purchasing these types and the ability to save their own seed for planting the subsequent year. Several food soy companies have requested to license NDSU varieties. Information about the yield of company varieties on fields that are infested with SCN and the yield of company varieties on sites where iron-deficiency chlorosis is present will enable growers to increase yield and profit by enabling them to identify the best varieties for their fields. Information comparing protein and oil content of private varieties can be used to increase the value of soybean in our geographical region.