By DOUG SCHMITZ

Iowa Correspondent

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Midwest farmers, researchers and state staff gathered Dec. 4 to mark 25 years of collaborating to improve farmer profitability through the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP).

“It seems like just yesterday that we formed the NCSRP,” said Dave Schmidt, its first president and an Iowa City farmer. “The states weren’t talking to each other about research, researchers weren’t talking to each other about projects, and that’s how the NCSRP came about – with a common goal and passion for basic research.”

Headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, the NCSRP is a farmer-led organization that invests soybean checkoff dollars in regional research, with 12 state soybean boards actively participating and funding the group: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

The group meets three times a year to discuss research proposals, the progress of current projects, common issues among the states and the direction of future research. Over the last 25 years, the board has funded more than $45 million in soybean research – an investment that researchers around the region, including Anne Dorrance, professor of soybean pathology at The Ohio State University, have noticed.

“I think on behalf of the university researchers across the north-central region, we can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done,” she said. “Thank you for your support all these years; without it, we would not have been able to double soybean yields in the last 20 years.”

The 12 NCSRP-member states (which include their individual state soybean associations) grow nearly 85 percent of the soybeans in the United States and represent more than 350,000 farmers. The growers representing these states on the NCSRP board have a shared vision and commitment to regionally coordinated research and communication efforts.

From pest management to farmer communication, the group has had a major impact on the soybean industry at the state, national and regional levels. And while it may have had an historic impact on the U.S. soybean industry, Gene Stoel, NCSRP current president and Lake Wilson, Minn., farmer, said its directors don’t plan to rest on past accomplishments.

“It’s pretty amazing what this organization has accomplished in its 25 years of existence,” he said. “We have to celebrate our successes. Just getting a group of people like this together will bring us more ideas of what we need to do next. We know what we need to get done and we know what we need to research.”

Clarke McGrath, Iowa State University agronomist and on-farm research and extension coordinator for ISU’s Iowa Soybean Research Center (ISRC), said as a farmer-led organization that invests soybean checkoff funds in university research and extension programs, the NCSRP has delivered results on issues that producers face across the region.

“With nearly a decade in retail agribusiness, and then coming on board with ISU, my agronomy career started about the same time as the NCSRP launch,” he said. “It has been rewarding to be part of the program from different perspectives from the start.

“After seeing the results in action for my customers as a retail agronomist, since joining ISU, I’ve had the opportunity to participate in many NCSRP research projects. It is pretty rewarding to utilize NCSRP data and recommendations in training and teaching industry agronomists and farmers – especially if you had a hands-on role in the work.”

With the ISRC as a partnership between ISU and the ISA, McGrath said the center’s missions and roles are well-aligned. “It’s no coincidence that we integrate a tremendous amount of NCSRP work as we develop and deliver research-based soybean production information to Iowa farmers and the industry, and that we provide a lot of support and guidance to NCSRP research.

“From my perspective, over the last 25 years, (Midwest) farmers and the NCSRP have been on target with the questions they ask and the research done,” he added. “Growers and researchers are always striving to improve, so the next 25 years ought to be pretty exciting.”

For more information on NCSRP research, visit www.soybeanresearchinfo.com