Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Zenglu Li

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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.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – R. Wade Webster

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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. 

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Anna Locke

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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.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Yuan Zeng

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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.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Shaun Casteel

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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.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator – Brian Leib

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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. 

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Ben Fallen

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Ben Fallen, USDA-ARS Research Geneticist and USDA Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I was born and raised on a tobacco farm in Virginia. I went to college knowing I wanted to pursue a career in agriculture, but I wasn’t sure what that would look like. During undergrad at Virginia Tech, a buddy invited me to work with him as an hourly student in a soybean breeding lab. When I graduated, I continued working there as a technician, and then I earned my graduate and doctorate degrees. And I never got out of soybeans. The opportunities in soybeans are pretty incredible, and the soybean breeding community is small and supportive.

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 think my work exploring the genetic diversity of wild soybeans to find good traits that can be incorporated into commercial soybeans will have the most significant, long-term impact on soybean production. This work has found potential to increase protein content without impacting yield, traits to support drought tolerance and more. As a USDA public breeder, I have more opportunities to work on long-term goals.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
Funding from the soybean checkoff is a very vital part of the program. As a major commodity, soybeans get less interest from many agencies funding research. The soy checkoff also supports training students, who will become the next generation of researchers, helping farmers solve the next generation of issues. This funding allows us to do more, especially through collaboration. We can accomplish more when we work with more researchers than just breeders.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
Farmers understand the whole dynamic of how multiple crops work in their fields, so I often go to them for advice. However, when it comes to soybean variety selection, farmers should make decisions for each location, accounting for pest pressure and susceptibility to stresses like drought or flooding. They should also look at data from independent variety trials. I also encourage them to keep soybean composition in mind.

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 expect the focus on sustainability to increase, so research on characteristics like drought and flood tolerance will continue to be important. We are losing land for production as the global population grows, so we need to work together to develop genetics and management practices to grow a better product for end users.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Andrew Scaboo

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Andrew Scaboo, Assistant Professor, Plant Science and Technology, University of Missouri

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
Growing up, my mother was into plants and vegetable gardening, and I enjoyed helping her. I went to the University of Tennessee and majored in plant and soil science. In the summer between my junior and senior year, I did a practicum with Dr. Vince Pantalone, a soybean breeder and a great mentor. This is where I fell in love with agriculture and soybeans. I went on to the University of Arkansas and earned my Ph.D. in plant breeding with Dr. Pengyin Chen, and worked with Dr. Tommy Carter with the USDA at North Carolina State University.

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 think what has had the most impact is our cultivar development. We’ve licensed a lot of germplasm to private companies, specifically and significantly, releasing the SOYLEIC™ soybean cultivars. The University of Missouri breeding program released some of the first publicly available high oleic, low linolenic soybean varieties. Drs. Kristin Bilyeu and Grover Shannon discovered the trait, and my program released the cultivars that farmers are growing now. 

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soy checkoff has been vital to my work developing new higher yielding, value-added soybean varieties. Developing the SOYLEIC™ varieties was a huge undertaking, and we did it, which has helped develop the market space for soybeans here and internationally. Actually, the soy checkoff is behind every single cultivar that I’ve developed.

And the checkoff in general has been instrumental in supporting the education of staff and students. With every research project, we’re educating undergraduate and graduate students so they can go on and either continue research or work at a major ag company, which impacts farmers’ fields more than they realize.

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

  • As a soybean breeder, it may seem odd, but I think weed management programs are probably the number one concern a farmer should think about. It is hard to control weeds and many people outside of agriculture don’t realize how bad of a problem it can be if farmers don’t control them. 
  • Also, plant early. There are a few things farmers can control and being ready to plant at the earliest time they can is one that can be controlled to increase yield. Be prepared.
  • Select the varieties that have traits important for your farm. Tailor your selection of varieties to maturity, disease resistance and herbicide package. Taking the time to find the cultivars with genetic resistance to help manage pathogens specific to your farm is crucial.

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?
Education support needs to continue to keep agriculture advancing. When you look at a research project proposal, the majority of the money goes to salaries. The checkoff creates jobs and sustains this whole realm of graduate students, postdocs, and staff, which makes a big impact on the agriculture industry.

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – John Tooker

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John Tooker, Professor and Extension Specialist, Department of Entomology, Pennsylvania State University

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I fell in love with insects in college. I enjoy studying them and I find their interactions fascinating. Soybeans came with the entomology job I have at Penn State, and I have enjoyed learning about the crop and how insects interact with it.

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 research I have done on slugs, which is a growing concern because of the use of no-till and cover crops, helps soybean producers most. My research team learned how the use of neonicotinoids also controls predators of slugs and other damaging insects. The loss of natural predators makes fields more susceptible to slug damage, and it has lots of other downstream effects. Because of this work, my team has become known as the slug people. 

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The Pennsylvania Soybean Board was among the first organizations to fund slug research. Their willingness to fund ongoing research allows all of us to have a better understanding of what is happening in soybean fields each year.

Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
I recommend integrated pest management practices to manage insects. Farmers should invest in scouting to see if they need insecticides, because often treatment isn’t necessary.

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?
With more farmers using cover crops, I think research on the risks and benefits of cover crops is needed, especially related to pests. Cover crops actually bring more natural enemies to fields, reducing pests. 

Photo: Nick Sloff, Penn State University

Soybean Research Principal Investigator Profile – Jeremy Ross

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Jeremy Ross, Professor and Soybean Extension Agronomist, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service

Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I fell into this position. In college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I started working in a plant pathology lab, which led to earning a master’s degree. I worked for a plant pathologist for a few years. Then I did corn and sorghum verification for Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service for seven years, and I earned my doctorate during that time. This position with a focus on soybeans opened up as I graduated in 2007, and I’ve been doing this ever since. I enjoy working with soybean farmers, helping them solve their problems.

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?
Research showing the value of using an inoculant on late-planted soybeans is paying off for Arkansas soybean farmers. They usually plant about half their soybean acres after June 1. My research showed that for soybeans planted after mid-May, adding an inoculant needs a yield increase of just one-third to one-half of a bushel per acre to pay for it, and we consistently see yield increases of 5 to 10 bushels per acre.

How has the soybean checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The soy checkoff provides funds to do this research. The funds and the farmers who volunteer to oversee the allocation of the checkoff make it possible for us to answer a lot of questions. I value having a good relationship with the farmers serving on the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.

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

  • Use narrow row spacing when planting soybeans. We have a lot of data showing that narrow rows increase yield. 
  • About 85% of Arkansas soybeans grow under irrigation. Using soil moisture sensors and programs that improve the efficiency of furrow irrigation can minimize over- or under-irrigating. Improving water use efficiency supports soybean profitability. 
  • Spend the time needed to pull soil samples and track data. Building a long field history allows farmers to see nutrient trends over time to better maintain soil fertility.

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?
One major risk farmers face is the loss of herbicides as weed control tools due to weed resistance. Palmer amaranth is developing resistance to multiple herbicides. We need research to identify long-term weed control options when chemicals don’t work well. We also need to pay attention to the economic profitability of soybeans for our farmers as they compete with other global regions for market share and adapt to address consumer concerns.