Innovation Def ines Future
Ed Anderson, RCFI senior director of research, knows research is key to the success of farmers.
Soybean checkoff impacts research that increases profitability
BY ED ANDERSON, PHD, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
T
he Iowa Soybean Association (ISA), like farmers, strives to improve profitable and sustainable production of the most reliable, highest-yielding and highest-quality soybeans. ISA’s research team works with and on behalf of farmers to understand, execute and communicate research. This benefits soybean farmers, the soybean industry and Iowans through the production of abundant, safe and environmentally friendly feed, fuel, fiber and food. The ISA board of directors invests soybean checkoff dollars in four primary ways:
1 // The board establishes contract agreements each year for basic (usually longer-term) and applied (usually shorter-term) research with Iowa Institutions and entities, mainly Iowa State University (ISU), for improving and protecting soybean yields and quality. 12 | FEBRUARY 2022 | IASOYBEANS.COM
2 // The ISA board understands many challenges and opportunities for soybean production do not start or stop at our borders. Since 1992, ISA has cooperated with other Midwest state soybean boards through the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) to invest in multi-state and multi-disciplinary research, teaching and extension. This brings the best and brightest researchers together on important topics. Because 87% of all the soybeans grown in the U.S. are produced in the 13 NCSRPmember states, the influence and impact of NCSRP research investments and results have broad benefits.
3 // Since 2014, the ISA board has invested soybean checkoff dollars in the Iowa Soybean Research Center on ISU’s campus. The center focuses on attracting private sector
memberships and financial investments for interdisciplinary research, which will bring value to farmers and to the soybean companies that serve them. Currently, the center has 14 membercompanies funding soybean research at ISU, which extends the checkoff investment by hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.
4 // For almost 25 years, the ISA board has invested soybean checkoff dollars in our own internal research technical assistance and implementation programs dedicated to working with farmers on their farms for in-field and edge-of-field on-farm production research and conservation infrastructure improvements. This provides farmers with real science and real data to improve their cropping systems with innovative agronomics, conservation, predictive models and decision tools.
