SBARE Soybean Granting Committee

Ramada Plaza Suites, Fargo

Meeting Minutes

December 3, 2008

 

The State Board of Agricultural Research and Education held their committee meeting in conjunction with the North Dakota Soybean Council’s research committee meeting. Chair Monte Peterson called the meeting to order at 7 a.m.  Voting committee members present were Peterson, Dennis Feiken, Chris Johnson, Chuck Nelson, Maynard Flatt, Jason Mewes and Claude Mewes. Non-voting committee members present were Dr. Keith Smith, Deborah Johnson and Dr. Seth Naeve.  Also present was Lori Capouch

 

Capouch gave a brief overview of where the SBARE research dollars originate from.

 

Applicants appeared before the committee to present their proposals.  The following were considered eligible for SBARE funding.

 

Value of soybean residue for cattle feed

Researcher(s): Dr. Vern Anderson & Breanne Ilse

Amount requested: $17,375

 

This project will determine the nutritional value and biomass yield of components of soybean plant residue compare methods of harvest and utilization by beef cows to include biological and economic considerations.

 

Capturing value from real-world soybean production practices

Researcher:  Steve Metzger

Amount requested:  $9,500

 

The main goals of this project are to evaluate the relative effectiveness of multiple on-farm soybean production practices and to determine the comparative profitability of these practices using the actual and total farm data from producer in North Dakota.

 

Smart polymer adjuvant surfactants to improve herbicide activity in soybeans

Researcher:  Dr. A. Voronov and Dr. Richard Zollinger

Amount requested:  $53,960

 

This project is aimed at the development of novel adjuvant-surfactants based on smart polymeric materials, instead of currently used traditional substances.  The major part of the research will be directed to the development of the polymeric formulations preventing herbicide antagonism from micronutrient and simultaneously improving wetting of plant leaves by the herbicide composition and thus herbicide uptake by the plant.  The optimization of polymeric chemical structure will be followed by screening tests in laboratory and greenhouse.

 

The proposed smart polymeric materials contain hydrophilic and hydrophobic constituents alternately distributed along the polymer chain.  The presence of water friend and fat friend groups makes them able to respond to changes in the surrounding environment and switch molecular form from water friendly to fat friendly and vice versa.

 

The water friend groups are capable to interaction with metal ions.  Being dissolved in water the polymer molecules will in a systematic way bind micronutrient ions into the long polymer macromolecules and prevent the interaction between ions and herbicide that is herbicide-fertilizer antagonism..

 

Besides being non-ionic surfactants, the proposed polymers will improve the wetting of the plant leaves by herbicide compositions and uptake of the herbicides.  The fat friendly constituents of the polymer has a strong affinity to the leave surface.  Being located at the water-fatty weed leaves interface, they will essentially decrease surface tension of herbicide spray droplets.  It will prevent breeding up and rolling off herbicide composition on the plant leaves and enhance herbicide effectiveness.

 

The proposed research will identify the ability to overcome antagonism from various forms of micronutrients and retention, ieposition and adsorption properties of polymeric adjuvant surfactants.

 

The new amphiphilic polymers are non-toxic and could be synthesized from commercially available reagents.  The discovered long chain smart polymers with alternating polar and non-polar fragments may be a novel solution in preventing herbicide antagonism and inventing a herbicide spraying composition with improved properties.

 

Suppressing soybean aphid populations by strip cropping with clover

Researchers: Deirdre Prischmann-Voldseth

Amount requested:  $25,580

 

This research project has two goals. The first is to determine if increasing plant diversity within soybean fields (by adding strips of clover) can reduce soybean aphid populations by enhancing densities of biological control agents and/or serving as a trap crop for pests.  The second is to determine how soybean yield is affected by strip cropping with clover.

 

Marker assisted selection compared to phenotype selection for iron-deficiency chlorosis

Researcher:  Ted Helms

Amount requested:  $21,262

 

To compare the new molecular marker approach to breeding cultivars that are tolerant to iron-deficiency chlorosis (IDC) to the usual method that is based on field evaluation of tolerance.  Molecular markers that have already been identified by NDSU will be used to screen experimental lines for IDC tolerance.  These same methods, field evaluation vs. molecular marker evaluation will be compared to determine which method is the most effective.

 

Protein and oil data analysis of cultivars in the fee testing program

Researcher:  Ted Helms

Amount requested:  $4,680

 

The goal of this project is to provide protein and oil data of company cultivars which have been entered in the Variety Fee Tests.  This information will be published in the NDSU Soybean Performance Testing Bulletin.

 

Breeding of natto and tofu specialty cultivars

Researcher:  Ted Helms

Amount requested:  $30,000

 

The breeding of cultivars with special traits that are required for the tofu, soy sauce and natto markets is necessary to support the companies that export these types of beans.  This work also is necessary to maintain the yield and associated profitability of those producers that choose to grow specialty-type soybeans.  There is only very limited breeding of these types by private companies for this northern production region.

 

Soybean oil reduces breast cancer risk

Researchers:  Chung Park

Amount requested:  $27,800

 

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women worldwide, responsible for 20 percent of all female cancer deaths.  It accounts for nearly one in four cancers diagnosed in women with the rates being highest in the United States.  Diet is an important environmental factor that is known to alter the risks of many hormone-dependent diseases, including breast cancer.  There has been a perception that high fat diets increase cancer risk. However, increasing evidence suggests that it is the type of lipid intake rather than the quantity of lipid that influences cancer risk.

 

Current research on dietary oils and cancer prevention is focusing on oils rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and oleic acid, with studies suggesting a correlation between these fatty acids and reduced tumor growth.  Although soybean oil is considered a healthy food ingredient, its association with cancer risk has been overlooked.  The goal of the proposed research is to develop a correlation between soybean oil and the inhibition of breast cancer development.  The long-term goal is to determine the extent to which exposure to soybean oil may sensitize cancer cells to immunological and chemotherapeutic cytolysis in cancer prevention and therapy.                                            

 

Soybean viruses in North Dakota

Researcher:  Berlin Nelson

Amount requested:  $13,620

 

The recent discovery of two viruses of soybean in North Dakota has indicated that virus diseases may be more widespread in the state than earlier research had indicated. The objective of this project is to conduct an intensive survey for soybean viruses in North Dakota over two seasons using several virus detection methods. The goal of this research proposal is to understand which soybean viruses could be potential threats to soybean production in our state.

 

Development of improved food grade varieties for North Dakota

Researcher:  Steve Fox

Amount requested:  $13,620

 

The goal of this research proposal is the development and commercialization of non-GMO soybean varieties by way of traditional breeding methods. Varieties that meet specific quality standards of food grade soybean end users and provide North Dakota farmers with an increase in current yields will be commercialized.

 

Development of soybean lines for quality biodiesel

Researcher:  Khwaja Hossain

Amount requested:  $24,060

 

Soybean oil is the leading vegetable oil produced in the US and the leading feedstock for biodiesel production. The biodiesel industry is growing rapidly in the US and continued rapid growth is expected over the next decade. Current biodiesel production capacity of about 350 million gallons per year is expected to double in the coming years. Some experts estimate that if the biodiesel industry keeps its current momentum, over 10 percent of the US soybean oil could be used for biodiesel production in coming years. The increased demand for soybean oil will increase its price and importance.  Regionally, if biodiesel producers could structure premiums for soybeans based on oil content, high-oil soybeans with added biodiesel quality would likely be demanded by growers with added biodiesel quality would likely be demanded by growers with the opportunity to market to a biodiesel plant. The ultimate gola of this research proposal is to develop soybean cultivars with higher potential of quality biodiesel.

 

Soybean rust sentinel plots in North Dakota

Researcher:  Samuel Markell

Amount requested:  $9,000

 

The goal of this project is to establish eight soybean-rust sentinel plots in the SE counties in ND.  Other pests will also be monitored.

 

Bacterial blight race analysis in North Dakota

Researcher:  Sam Markell

Amount requested:  $16,850

 

The goal of this research is to determine the races of the bacterial blight pathogen in North Dakota.

 

Plant population and row spacing effects on natto soybean varieties

Researcher:  Hans Kandel

Amount requested:  $9,705

 

The goal of this project is to evaluate natto soybean varieties seeded with different plant populations and row spacings, for: stand after complete emergence, any disease, lodging, plant height, yield, oil and protein content, seed weight, and test weight to establish maximum net returns for natto producers.

 

Developing NIRS calibrations for rumen protein bypass in soybean meal

Researcher:  Glen Broderick

Amount requested:  $44,820

 

The objective of the proposed research is to develop an accurate and robust near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) calibration for measuring rumen protein bypass to allow rapid and economical determination of nutritional and commercial value of soybean meals for feeding to dairy cows.

 

Funding decisions

 

It was moved by Feiken and seconded by Flatt to grant negotiated funding of up to $20,925 to the project titled “Effect of soil type on soybean cyst nematode”.  The motion carried.

 

It was moved by Nelson and seconded by Mewes to grant negotiated funding of up to $4,600 to the project titled “Impact of tillage system and previous crop on soybean production.  The motion carried.

 

It was moved by Johnson and seconded by Flatt to grant negotiated funding of up to $23,604 to Hans Kandel contingent on the submission of an acceptable proposal relating the new tiling plot he is establishing. Capouch will arrange a conference call with the committee to give final approval to the proposal. The motion carried.

 

There being no further business, the committee meeting was adjourned.

 

 

MAIL VOTE

 

Hans Kandel submitted the requested proposal for the project title “Determining soybean variety response to tile drainage in the Red River Valley”.  The proposal was forwarded to committee members along with a mail-in ballot.  The committee members voted to grant negotiated funding of up to $23,604 for this project.  Johnson, Glauslow, Nelson, Richard, Mewes, Peterson and Fieken voted “aye”.  Meyers and Flatt abstained from voting.