John Carlin – Soybean Research Profile
John Carlin, Director, Arkansas Crop Variety Improvement Program at University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Why did you decide to pursue a career that includes soybean research?
I grew up on a cattle farm and always liked genetics. As a graduate student, I was introduced to Dr. Pengyin Chen, a leader in soybean breeding, and I loved working with soybean genetics. Though I worked in the industry, my goal was to eventually hold a similar position, so when this role became available at the University of Arkansas, I jumped at the opportunity.
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 flood trials tied to the soybean variety trials provide novel data to farmers. I plan to expand this research to look at fertilizer and soil oxygen levels to provide farmers more detailed information on how much damage floods are doing to their soybeans.
How has the Soy Checkoff enhanced your ability to find answers to production problems for farmers?
The Soy Checkoff allows me to offer trial participation to seed companies at a reasonable rate, so they can enter more varieties. That provides better data both for the companies and for farmers.
Within your area of expertise, what are the top two or three general recommendations you would offer farmers to improve their management practices?
Farmers tend to know what problems each field tends to have. Look for soybean varieties that will do best on the farm and in those fields. Choose varieties that can handle likely issues. There is a lot of data about soybean varieties available. Find and use the data that best supports their variety selection process.
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?
Research needs to investigate more ways to address issues. We need to think about characteristics that we can screen for and combine that with identifying management practices that address those challenges.
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