St. Louis, Missouri
September 26, 2007
Yield is king for soybean farmers,
and pests and diseases that threaten yield could rob soybean
farmers of profits. That’s why the farmer-leaders of the soybean
checkoff commit to funding that tackles yield robbers. Of these
pests, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most prevalent and
costly of them all.
Soybean cyst nematodes rank as the number one yield-robbing pest
in the United States, and has for many years. Last year, SCN
caused around 125 million bushels of losses in the United
States, according to USB research.
“With $8-$9 per bushel beans, you’re looking at SCN costing
farmers $40 to $70 per acre due to light infestation,” says Jim
Legvold, United Soybean
Board (USB) director and a soybean farmer from Vincent,
Iowa. “Most every farmer in my area has SCN in their fields, and
if you do not control them, sooner or later it will be a
problem.”
Legvold adds that SCN research is one of the top production
research priorities for the checkoff, along with soybean rust
research. In 2007, USB has funded nearly $10 million in
production-related research, including a large multi-state
research effort to study SCN. Between USB and state soybean
boards, the checkoff funds almost $2.4 million in soybean
nematode research nationwide.
Research efforts for 2008 include projects looking at
biotechnology to control SCN, development of new lines of
SCN-resistant soybeans for different applications in different
areas of the country, genomic analysis of SCN and other genetic
methods to learn about SCN and SCN-resistant soybeans.
One such research project looks at the virulence, or ability of
SCN to reproduce on a soybean plant considered SCN-resistant.
SCN populations can change over time, so it is important to know
the virulence profile, or what race of nematode is present, on
your farm. If farmers know what they are dealing with, they can
choose the best line of SCN-resistant soybeans and save
themselves a lot in lost yields, says Terry Niblack, University
of Illinois researcher.
“With our current knowledge, we can increase soybean yields up
to 20 percent simply by matching the correct resistance with the
virulence profile of SCN in a particular field,” says Niblack.
“That can be worth between $50 and $134 per acre, but $50 per
acre is more typical.”
Legvold says that determining the race of SCN on your farm and
ensuring that you have the right kind of management can make all
the difference. “Farmers need to do their homework,” he says.
“First you need to know if you have SCN present and at what
level, and then you need to know what race of SCN you have,
because not all SCN-resistant lines are effective on all SCN
races.”
USB is made up of 64 farmer-directors who oversee the
investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S.
soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of
animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization,
industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in
the Soybean Promotion, Research and Customer Information Act,
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight
responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff. |
|
