The Iowa Soybean Research Center will focus on all university activities related to soybean biology, breeding, economics, precision agriculture, production and pest management in the state. The center will involve and help coordinate research, teaching, and Extension faculty and staff who work in these areas. The ISRC’s overall mission is to advance the understanding of soybean plant biology and increase soybean production, making production more profitable and environmentally sustainable in the future.

Objectives of the Iowa Soybean Research Center:
* Build and maintain strong public-private partnerships.
* Benefit the Iowa soybean industry by sharing research-based information.
* Communicate and build relationships with farmers and industry through soybean research and education activities led by the ISRC.
* Develop collaborative research opportunities between the ISRC's industry partners, the Iowa Soybean Association and ISU.
* Grow and leverage public and private funding of soybean-related research and education activities at ISU.
* Provide training to undergraduate students, graduate students, and other personnel for soybean-related education, research and production activities.

Deliverables and outcomes from the Iowa Soybean Research Center:
* Provide quarterly updates about the ISRC to the Iowa Soybean Association Board Directors and, when requested, the ISRC Director will give center updates at the ISA Board Meetings.
* Enter ISRC progress reports and current center-funded research project updates twice a year into the National Soybean Research Database.
* Increase coordination of soybean research and education activities with Iowa State University, the ISA and agribusinesses in Iowa.
* Enhance the exchange of ideas and information through participation in crop conferences and educational meetings hosted by ISU and the ISA.
* Leverage funding of soybean production research activities with the soybean checkoff and the soybean industry.
* Improve collaborations and the exchange of ideas between other soybean centers in the United States and their qualified state soybean boards and university researchers to seek out large grants from federal funding agencies.
* Expand cooperative research between ISU researchers and the ISA's Research Center for Farming Innovation.

Update:
On September 8, the ISRC hosted a half-day Think Tank Workshop on soybean research needs at the ISU Alumni Center. Nearly 40 representatives from the agricultural industry, Iowa soybean farmers, ISU researchers, and the Iowa Soybean Association participated. Katie Dentzman, assistant professor of sociology at ISU, facilitated the discussions. A myriad of research topics and gaps were identified, including a changing climate, soil health, specific diseases and pests, markets and government regulations, plants health versus profitability, funding issues, scalability of data, emerging technologies, a need for remote sensing and smaller equipment, and the need for academia and industry to collaborate more. The ISRC shared takeaways from the Think Tank with stakeholders and hopes it will help guide the direction of future soybean production research ideas by ISU researchers.

In conjunction with the Think Tank Workshop, the ISRC hosted their Annual Industry Advisory Council (IAC) Meeting the afternoon of September 8 to consider proposed soybean research ideas and offer guidance on how to best invest $414,000 in new funding. Christie Wiebbecke, the new ISRC IAC chair and Iowa Soybean Association Chief Officer, Research and Conservation, welcomed the group. After Greg Tylka’s overview about the center, the IAC split into small discussion groups to review and provide feedback on the 14 new research ideas. Following the small groups, the whole council came back together for a report-out to identify which projects rose to the top in the small group selection process. After much discussion, the IAC identified three new projects they recommended to the center’s Management Team for funding in FY24.

The ISRC’s Management Team, who makes the final research funding decisions for the center, met to discuss the IAC’s research recommendations and requested further clarification from researchers on two of the proposed projects before making a final decision. Following a second Management Team meeting, it was decided to fund three new projects from ISU researchers, two led by Silvina Arias and one led by Leonor Leandro, as described below.
1. Characterization of Iron Deficiency and Fusarium graminearum Interactive Responses in Soybean: Silvina Arias, adjunct assistant professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, will receive funding to study the characterization of soybean genes that are differentially regulated by the host during F. graminearum infection in an iron deficiency environment to identify new potential resistance mechanisms and candidate genes involved in the defense response. Jamie O’Rourke, research geneticist, agronomy, is a collaborator on this project.
2. Application of Innovative Intercropping Practices to Increase Soybean Production in Iowa: Silvina Arias, adjunct assistant professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, will receive funding to study the application of intercropping practices involving the harvest of one of Iowa’s main cash crops, soybean, plus the harvest of a second crop in the same field, in the same year, reducing negative environmental impacts. Additionally, growing soybean with winter crops, such as small grains and oilseed crops (canola), is a way to take advantage of Iowa’s six-month fallow period. Co-PIs (principal investigators) include Leonor Leandro, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology and Mark Licht, associate professor of agronomy.
3. Soil Amendment with Biofuel Industry Co-products (Biochar and Digestate) for Improving Soybean Disease Management and Enhancing Soil Health: Leonor Leandro, professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, will receive funding to determine if soil amended with co-products from the biofuel industry, namely biochar and digestate, can suppress soybean diseases caused by soilborne pathogens. Their research will focus on the pathogens that cause soybean sudden death syndrome and soybean root rot because of their economic importance and their soilborne nature. Co-PIs include Santanu Bakshi, Bioeconomy Institute and Lisa Schulte Moore, Bioeconomy Institute, natural resource ecology and management.

Research Project Updates:
Drs. Sotirios Archontoulis, professor of integrated cropping systems in the agronomy department and Gary Munkvold, professor in the plant pathology, entomology, and microbiology department at ISU, each received funding support from the ISRC for their research projects in 2022. Drs. Archontoulis and Munkvold each provided year-one progress update reports of their projects.

Dr. Leonor Leandro, professor in plant pathology, entomology, and microbiology completed her project, “Time disease onset as an early indicator of soybean resistance to SDS,” in December 2023. A progress report was received in December with a final report anticipated later this spring. You can find all three progress reports and past project reports on the ISRC’s website, www.iowasoybeancenter.iastate.edu/research.

The ISRC Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary in 2024:
The Iowa Soybean Research Center was formed by the Iowa Board of Regents on July 1, 2014. The ISRC staff are planning extra special events throughout 2024 to celebrate the center’s 10-Year Anniversary.

Asheesh “Danny” Singh, ISU Professor of Agronomy with expertise in soybean breeding and phonemics, joined the ISRC as co-director on January 1, 2024. With the addition of Danny, and in honor the ISRC’s 10-year anniversary in July, the co-directors will work together to expand the research and educational activities of the center while maintaining a focus on soybean production research. Read more in the press release on the ISRC's website, www.iowasoybeancenter.iastate.edu.

The Iowa Soybean Association’s Communications Team held a staff retreat on campus at the Advanced Teaching and Research Lab on February 12, 2024. Kara Berg, communications specialist for the center, organized a research tour for the 17 team members that included visits to the research labs of Thomas Baum, Matt O’Neal and Steve Whitham; a tour of the Plant & Insect Diagnostic Clinic; and a hands-on activity in the teaching lab.

More 2024 Events & Activities Celebrating the ISRC's 10-Year Anniversary:
• ISRC will sponsor a seminar in the plant pathology, entomology, and microbiology department on April 2 titled, “Soybean Gall Midge: Understanding Risk and Management Options” by Justin McMechan, assistant professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (can be viewed via ZOOM, https://iastate.zoom.us/j/95972743117?pwd=Wkp1UzlrbkdOUnUxSmNhQnc2Wm5hQT09)
• The ISRC is working with the agronomy and agricultural & biosystems engineering departments to sponsor additional soybean-related seminars in 2024
• The center is coordinating training on the new National Soybean Research Database between USB and ISU researchers on March 25
• ISRC will co-sponsor with the Iowa Food & Family Project, the North Central Poultry Association and the Iowa Egg Council an omelet breakfast for ISU students on May 2
• The ISRC will co-host with the AI Institute for Resilient Agriculture (AIIRA) an ISU Field Day for the ISA Board on June 18
• The ISRC will participate in the Soybean Research Forum & Think Tank and is organizing the Coordinated Soybean Centers Group Meeting in Indianapolis, IN on July 22-24
• The ISRC’s Summer Field Tour – August 2024
• Fourth Annual Meals from the Heartland meal packaging event with Cargill – August 1
• ISU Research Day for the ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council on September 5
• ISRC’s Annual Industry Advisory Council Meeting on September 6
• The ISRC is working on a new funding level model for industry partners to roll out in 2025

Be sure to follow the Iowa Soybean Research Center on X (formerly Twitter) @ISU_SoyCenter.

The function of Iowa State University's Iowa Soybean Research Center is to increase collaboration, coordination, and integration among Iowa State University, the Iowa Soybean Association, industry, and farmers to align the soybean-related activities at ISU with the needs of Iowa soybean farmers and the industry that supports production of the crop. The Center will involve and help coordinate research, teaching, and Extension faculty and staff who work in the areas of soybean biology, breeding, economics, precision agriculture, production, and pest managment at ISU and the Iowa Soybean Association.