Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Dean Malvick

Posted on by Carol Brown

Dean Malvick, professor and extension specialist of plant pathology, University of Minnesota

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I became interested in plant pathology based on my interests in pathology and microbiology. I wanted to use it in a way that could improve crop production and food production, and in research with real application for farmers and food producers. Soybeans are a fascinating crop and very important economically to Minnesota and across the U.S. There are many interesting and important disease problems to work on. 

What research topic have you completed in the past, or are working on now, that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
Almost everything we do as researchers is in a collaborative effort. Some of the significant projects that I have worked on are with brown stem rot to continue our understanding of this disease. Other notable projects include work with sudden death syndrome on both the resistance and the seed treatment sides, white mold management, Rhizoctonia root rot management, and Phytophthora root rot management with resistance.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soybean checkoff has provided critical financial support that has enabled much of this work to be done. Also it has helped to establish collaborators.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
From a plant pathology and crop disease perspective, it would be helpful if farmers were all very diligent in scouting their fields – and some farmers are. Understanding where the problems are occurring and which ones are limiting production in all production areas, that would be helpful for researchers and extension specialists who could get information out to producers. Also for funding agencies, so work could be prioritized based on real needs. The more we can understand exactly what the limiting factors are in every field that grows soybeans, the better off we will be.

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
It is important to continue enhanced soybean breeding for more diseases or higher levels of resistance to diseases. We also need to continue research to truly understand the scope and impact of different problems as well as biological and environmental factors that increase risk to yield and productivity. There’s so much we still don’t know.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Darcy Telenko

Posted on by Carol Brown

Darcy Telenko, associate professor, extension plant pathologist, Purdue University

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I grew up on a dairy farm in New York, and I knew I did not want to work with animals, but I really enjoyed the cropping side of the farm. I pursued a degree in biology as an undergrad and looked to get into applied research with plants. I completed my master’s work on sudden death syndrome in soybeans and charcoal rot. Understanding the disease impact on crops has been important to me, and soybeans have always been one of the crops I’ve focused on with my career.

What research topic have you completed in the past, or are working on now, that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
My disease of choice is white mold. I started studying white mold in peanuts and now on soybeans. My lab has a number of soybean research projects including our current work with drone-applied fungicides to reduce soybean diseases. We also run many trials evaluating the effectiveness of new products for managing important soybean diseases in Indiana including frogeye leaf spot, white mold, sudden death syndrome, and other soilborne and seedling diseases. The data we collect contributes to fungicide efficacy data for soybean foliar and seedling disease publications.

Fungicide Efficacy for Control of Soybean Foliar Diseases – Crop Protection Network publication

Fungicide Efficacy for Control of Soybean Seedling Diseases – Crop Protection Network publication

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soybean checkoff allows me to fund my program and support my staff, particularly students. I have several students focusing on topics such as fungicide resistance, how biologicals integrate with pesticides, the effect of sulfur on sudden death syndrome, and now dealing with red crown rot and determining its distribution and how to better manage this new pathogen.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
First, farmers need to know and understand what the greatest disease risks are on their farms. Once they know this, they can utilize a targeted, integrated approach towards management of the disease. There are many available tools to choose from, whether it’s disease resistant variety selection, seed treatments, fungicide application or even using the new predictive models to help make informed decisions on whether a fungicide application is needed.

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
Some of our critical research needs are monitoring for new and emerging pathogens, screening pathogen populations for fungicide resistance, and finding sustainable ways to manage them. As we look to the future, with shifting weather conditions, we are seeing changes in fungal pathogen distribution and risk. Are we going to be able to properly manage them when they move into an area?
Also, there are a lot of biologicals coming onto the market and we need to more broadly look at how these can be used effectively and how to incorporate them into the system, especially as we continue to see more issues with fungicide resistance.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Nicole Fiorellino

Posted on by Carol Brown

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
Even as an undergraduate student, I enjoyed the idea of doing applied research that means something to people. I learned that I love extension. I come to farmers, like the Maryland Soybean Board, with an idea, but I leave with tweaks and adjustments to that idea that make it more applicable to them. I love providing answers like that for farmers. Soybeans are a very intriguing plant. The more I learn about them, the less I know. They are an important part of crop rotations in Maryland, and I am excited to figure out how to make that system a little bit better. I think soybeans offer more potential for improvement within the system than other crops. 

What research topic have you completed in the past or are working on now that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
The planting date research I am working on should have an impact on farmers, but we are still working on it to learn more. I expect that what we eventually learn will help farmers think about optimizing their rotation and overall agronomic systems. I think information about planting dates will help farmers shift to be more resilient, especially as climate patterns change.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soy checkoff is extremely crucial to my work. As a tenure-track researcher at a university, I am required to secure federal funding for research. But it is difficult to garner that type of funding for research that is local and relevant to farmers, but limited in scope. The checkoff allows me to work on answering practical, locally relevant production questions.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
Farmers should pay attention to the cost of production and their entire rotation. They should make decisions for the whole rotation and agronomic system. Thinking through the profitability of their entire system will help them optimize the most valuable part of their rotation. 

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
In Maryland, I think we should consider research on irrigated soybeans, rather than just saving that investment for corn, especially given our nutrient management restrictions. I also think we need to investigate “yield promiser” products as they become available to farmers to see what is happening. 

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Greg Endres

Posted on by Carol Brown

Greg Endres, Extension agronomist, North Dakota State University

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
My career as an extension agronomist began in 1990. By the mid-90s, soybean acreage began to increase in North Dakota and expanded over the next two decades to exceed the state’s wheat acreage. Today, the state ranks as number 4 in the U.S. for soybean acreage. The cornerstone crop of my career has been soybean production, education and research.

What research topic have you completed in the past, or are working on now, that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production? 
I have studied soybean row spacing by plant density (with contributions from many North Dakota researchers) to improve recommendations for North Dakota farmers.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The support from the Soybean Checkoff is valuable for me to have adequate resources to properly conduct and report the research.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?

  1. Do your homework on variety selection!
  2. Use the recommended combination of row spacing and plant population.
  3. Use proper crop sequence (rotation).

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future? 
I believe researchers need to continue exploring and refining strategies that will protect soil from erosion and increase long-term soil productivity with soybean as a key crop in a cropping system.

SRIN articles:

Fine-Tuning Recommendations for Cover Crops and Phosphorus in North Dakota

Creating Awareness of Soybean Tolerance with Pre-plant Dicamba Application

Residual Herbicide May Impact Fall Cover Crop Establishment

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Zenglu Li

Posted on by Carol Brown

Zenglu Li, Professor, Georgia Seed Development Professorship in Soybean Breeding and Genetics, University of Georgia

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I grew up on a small farm where we grew vegetables. At that time, I didn’t think of vegetables as food. I thought of crops like corn, rice and wheat as real food. I wanted to work to improve a “food” crop. I studied agronomy and then plant breeding at universities. After receiving my master’s degree in plant breeding, I wanted to work on wheat, but no positions were available in that crop. Instead, I took a position in soybeans, and then continued earning my doctorate’s degree and post-doctoral training in soybean breeding. I enjoy that crop — and my career path — very much. After I worked for major companies on other crops, I wanted to get back to soybeans because I like the crop, so I gladly came to the University of Georgia to focus on soybean breeding and genetics research. Soybeans are used for so much, including food and feed for livestock, another type of food, which has a huge global impact.

What research topic have you completed in the past or are working on now that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
Soybean breeding is a complex endeavor. It takes substantial resources and many years to complete a breeding cycle to develop cultivars. Accelerating this process necessitates the adoption of innovative breeding technologies aimed at shortening the breeding cycle. Since I have been leading the University of Georgia soybean breeding program, we have successfully incorporated genomic tools into the cultivar development pipeline. These tools include genetic mapping of the genes underlying economically important traits like disease and pest resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and seed composition. Tools also include using molecular markers to predict superior crossing combinations and select desired progeny for yield, agronomic traits, seed composition and more. I’ve seen how important it is to get high-yielding soybean cultivars to farmers, and the tools and methodologies we’ve developed and implemented have allowed us to expedite the delivery of new soybean cultivars with enhanced efficiency.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
Funding is crucial for research endeavors. Funding from the soy checkoff plays a pivotal role in supporting my research program, which has enabled us to develop and release new soybean cultivars for soybean growers, conduct gene discovery for economically important traits and develop new methodologies that support soybean cultivar development. Moreover, the checkoff funds also provide vital support to training students who will become the next generation of the workforce for the soybean industry. Without the soy checkoff funding support, I wouldn’t be able to successfully run this breeding program. 

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
Soybean production, especially in the Southeast, presents numerous challenges that can significantly impact yield and farmers’ profitability. These challenges include issues such as weeds, diseases, insect pests and various abiotic stresses. As a soybean breeder, I advocate for two primary strategies to mitigate these challenges and optimize soybean yield.

First, it’s crucial for soybean growers to carefully select appropriate soybean cultivars tailored to their specific region. Different cultivars exhibit varying levels of resistance or tolerance to prevalent pests, diseases and environmental stresses. By choosing cultivars that are well-suited to local conditions, farmers can enhance their resilience against these challenges and maximize yield potential.

Second, employing appropriate field management practices throughout the growing season is essential for safeguarding soybean yield. This includes implementing effective weed control measures, timely disease and pest management strategies, and adopting practices to mitigate abiotic stresses such as drought or heat. By integrating these management practices into their farming operations, growers can minimize the impact of potential threats and optimize the performance of their soybean crops.

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of famers in the future?
Soybean is one of the most important crops in the United States, underscoring the critical need for ongoing research to develop high-yielding cultivars and germplasm with climate resilience. This imperative research not only ensures the future profitability of farmers, but also safeguards the stability of the agricultural sector. Moreover, sustaining public breeding programs is crucial, as they serve as essential platforms for pursuing long-term goals in germplasm enhancement and cultivar development, as well as new methodology advancements. These programs also play a pivotal role in training the next generation of research professionals, ensuring the continuity of innovation and expertise in soybean breeding and agriculture as a whole.

SRIN Articles:

Soybean Breeding Program Solving Key Challenges for the Southeast

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – R. Wade Webster

Posted on by Carol Brown

R. Wade Webster, Assistant Professor and Soybean Specialist, Extension Soybean Diseases

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
As a kid, it was always my goal to go into agriculture. My family has a corn-soybean operation. It was my passion to become a plant breeder, but I had an opportunity in grad school to participate in a plant pathology research program. It was then I fell in love with pathology. 
The diversity of pathogens attacking the soybean plant was eye-opening as well as intriguing. I focused on white mold in my graduate program because I saw it wiping out large portions of fields. Also, white mold is relatively less difficult to work with than other pathogens, so we were able to do a lot of quick and impactful research. 

What research topic have you completed in the past, or are working on now, that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
I’ve been working a lot with predictive modeling and the development of decision support tools. One of them was developed by Jamie Willbur at Michigan State University and Damon Smith at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While she was at the University of Wisconsin, Jamie led the development of the Sporecaster app, which is a predictive tool for white mold. Through that tool, I also helped to understand how genetic resistance can be overlaid with these resistance tools. This ultimately leads to reduced fungicide applications, cost savings and reducing fungicide resistance within the pathogens.
More recently, we’ve been developing another predictive decision support tool called Frogspotter, which looks for frogeye leaf spot. We are testing this tool and hopefully it will be released soon publicly.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
Without soybean checkoff funding, we wouldn’t be able to do this research. It’s money from the farmers, for the farmers. Our work is to help improve farmers’ livelihoods, to improve the ease of their day-to-day work, and making sure they have the best management practices and tools for increased productivity and reduced inputs in their systems.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
First, use integrated pest management, but don’t rely on one single practice. As I’ve heard with weed science, use the ‘many little hammers’ approach. For white mold, use resistant varieties, cover crops if you can, wide rows and lower seeding rates as well as a fungicide. 
Second, scout your fields to understand where different diseases are, so you can target your management.

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
Precision ag is important. Farmers are needing to produce more with fewer inputs, as everything is more expensive, especially from the chemical standpoint. If we can help them make applications more targeted, farmers won’t be applying them in areas where they aren’t needed. That will have a big impact both economically and environmentally. 

SRIN articles:

Searching for Phytophthora Resistance in North Dakota Soybeans

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Anna Locke

Posted on by Carol Brown

Anna Locke, Plant Physiologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service 

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I thought plants were interesting, and then I became fascinated with how they respond to the environment. My interests were broad, but I wanted my research to impact agriculture. Working with soybeans is one way I do that. 

What research topic have you completed in the past or are working on now that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
As a plant physiologist, I focus on understanding how plants work, so that others have the knowledge they need to improve or manage crops better. My ongoing research to understand how protein markers can be used alongside genetic markers in soybean breeding has potential to significantly impact soybean breeding.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soybean checkoff funds critical research projects. We couldn’t have started many of our projects without farmer support. They make much of our research possible by funding initial work that allows us to apply for other research grants.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
I have more to learn from farmers than they can learn from me. The data I provide about how plants respond to their environment makes up a small piece of the big picture they use to make management decisions. 

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
We need research to better understand how soybeans respond to weather and climate stress, so we can determine how to make improvements in the crop to manage conditions. Summers are getting hotter. Drought has been an issue and will continue to be a threat. Research that helps us effectively screen to find soybean genetics that can handle these challenges will improve breeding programs, leading to better yields under stress.

SRIN articles:

Creating a New Breeding Tool Based on Plant Proteins and Machine Learning

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Yuan Zeng

Posted on by Carol Brown

Yuan Zeng, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
My mom grew up on a very small-scale farm in China, and I grew up hearing lots of stories about her experiences. My college training focused on entomology and microbiology, primarily in the lab. I also developed a background in statistics, which supports predictive modeling. During my post-doctoral training, my mentor shaped my view of how plant pathology research can help farmers in choosing integrated pest management practices. Because of my mom’s stories, I was already interested in agriculture, and I learned to love the industry and plants. I found that I enjoy doing field research to learn what is happening in the real world that directly impacts our growers. When I started at Virginia Tech, I focused on helping farmers with the goal of reducing crop losses caused by plant pathogens and minimizing chemical inputs while maximizing yield, and soybeans are one of their primary crops. 

What research topic have you completed in the past or are working on now that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
In addition to spore trapping research, I think my soil microbiome work focused on Sudden Death Syndrome, or SDS, of soybeans has the most potential to impact soybean production. The goal is to analyze soil microbiota to identify SDS-suppressive soil and beneficial soil microbes that can reduce the impact of SDS. Then, farmers could use natural soil microbes to control this disease. The research aims to correlate those microbes with soil chemistry to find a way to boost the population of beneficial microbes that inhibit SDS.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
Without soy checkoff funding, I wouldn’t be able to apply the airborne spore trapping concept to soybeans. This funding also allows me to hire wonderful undergraduate students to support the practical research, give them experience, and develop my program.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?

  • Select soybean varieties that are tolerant to diseases and specific races of those pathogens known to be present in fields. Avoid planting susceptible soybeans in high-risk fields with a history of disease pressure.
  • Apply crop rotation. Don’t plant continuous soybeans in areas with a history of frogeye leaf spot. 
  • Look for other tools besides chemicals to manage diseases. 

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
To further improve the efficiency of soybean production, I would like to see more investment in multi-disciplinary research teams, combining expertise in areas like plant pathology, genetics, engineering, computer science and others, to help farmers address real-world questions.

SRIN articles:

Blowing in the Wind: Monitoring and Identifying Fungal Spores

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Shaun Casteel

Posted on by Carol Brown

Shaun Casteel, Associate Professor of Agronomy and Extension Specialist, Purdue University

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I’m a farm boy from Illinois and my family raised corn and soybeans. I’ve always loved being on the farm – it’s part of my heritage. I also wanted to help people, help farmers, so it was a natural direction in terms of my education and career. At the University of Illinois, I worked with a soybean researcher and for graduate school, I wanted to get a different experience. I attended North Carolina State University and worked with cotton, nutrient management and soil science. I wanted to understand how to do research and how to help farmers. A lot of the things I learned in the world of cotton, I’ve brought into soybean research, sort of out-of-the-box thinking.

I have a passion for agriculture and the soybeans I grew up with. It’s a crop that, up until 10 years ago or so, has been under-represented in terms of research and agronomic advancement. I wanted to help raise the profile of soybeans. 

What research topic have you completed in the past, or are working on now, that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
First is understanding how soybeans have changed over time in terms of their growth patterns. My background is heavily into nutrients and nutrient cycling. I’ve conducted soybean variety trials that had varieties from the 1920s to the present, and we’ve documented the major shifts in the way soybeans grow and the way they take up and allocate nutrients. A lot of the modern soybeans have changed what they are doing late in the season during pod development and seed fill, and those changes have made an impact on how we manage them.

Second, soybean management influences the plant’s physiology. Planting timely — timing has great yield potential as well as management issues we must work through. The yield advantage that comes with planting timely also comes with management decisions, which leads to nutrient cycling. Farmers are planting earlier than they used to, when soils are cooler and nutrient availability from the soil, sulfur and nitrogen come into question. We need to know how to manage and improve this.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soybean checkoff is the avenue that helps me ask and answer applied questions. With applied research, everything I do is based on helping the farmer — what can I do to improve their bottom line, their decision-making. And the ability to get funding through the soybean checkoff has been tremendous. It’s been the main driver for my research program. The soybean checkoff has definitely put me in a space where I can be grounded in applied research and recommendations.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
Planting timely, getting soybeans planted timely is huge. We need to think about soybeans intentionally, not as an afterthought. By planting timely, purposefully, the soybeans are able to get more node and pod development, and reproductive branches. Soybeans are being planted earlier than they used to, but when planting super-early, I haven’t seen the benefits outweighing the costs. But when the fields are ready, let’s roll with the soybeans before corn.

Also understanding nutrient availability is important and comes with challenges as well as opportunities. 

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
When we look at farming systems, we need to look at the interactions. We’ve researched these individual management decisions such as getting the right variety, row spacing and planting date, and we need to look at their integration in a system. When it’s all clicking, we need to be looking for something new that unlocks. It’s like decoding the right combination that unlocks and breaks yield barriers. It’s either working blindly or having some level of road map.

SRIN articles:

Soybeans and Cover Crops Can Work Together for Soil Health and Good Yields

Soybean Research Principal Investigator – Brian Leib

Posted on by Carol Brown

Brian Leib, Professor of Biosystems Engineering, University of Tennessee

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I am interested in how to manage things, and my career has focused on irrigation research. When I moved to Tennessee, my research focused on the crops with irrigation investments, which includes soybean, corn and cotton. I find the challenges of adjusting irrigation for soybeans and other crops every year based on rain, crop growth stage and more very interesting.

What research topic have you completed in the past or are working on now that could have or has had the most significant impact on soybean production?
Irrigation is easier to manage in areas where it never rains. But in regions like Tennessee, where it can be very wet or very dry, managing irrigation to work around rainfall is tricky. Farmers don’t want to hurt their crop with not enough water, but they also don’t want to waste money pumping water when it isn’t needed. My work on “managed-depletion irrigation” focuses on understanding the water table and crop water requirements, aiming to help farmers find that balance.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
My role is 100% extension, and the soy checkoff provides funds that can be invested in research to explore the questions and challenges farmers have. This research provides information I can share with farmers, and it allows for preliminary research that can be leveraged into other grants. 

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?

  • Farmers should know their soils and how much water they hold. Then, they can pay attention to soil moisture to know when crops need water. Soil moisture sensors help, but they can also monitor rainfall and crop growth.
  • Soybeans can wait a bit for irrigation and get water when it matters most, which is usually at the reproductive growth stage R5. There may be exceptions to this timing, which is why it is important to monitor soil moisture.

Within your area of expertise, what do you consider to be critical soybean research needs that can impact the profitability of farmers in the future?
I believe farmers would benefit from more research to understand the interaction between irrigation, drainage and the water table in their fields. This will help them manage both wet periods and dry periods. Future research should also explore how all the data farmers gather from their fields can support variable rate irrigation. They would also benefit from research on how best to gather data — comparing remote sensing from aerial images to ground equipment, and how that data can work together and perhaps cover more area. 

SRIN articles:

Water Table Data May Help Manage Drainage