EB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 4,1983
DES MOINES, la. Would you
like to farm with the tractor you
bought 20 years ago?
That’s about what you’d be doing
without continuing research to
help yourself farm more ef
ficiently, says Walt Fehr, lowa
State University plant breeder.
“No industry makes any
progress over the long term
without considerable investment in
research and development to in
crease efficiency,” notes Fehr.
“If you Look at the short term
and think we’ve accomplished
enough, that’s like saying a fanner
should farm with the same tractor
he bought back m 1960,” Fehr says.
“In the same way, if the soybean
industry sits static, we will lose
that competitive edge of efficiency
that we have gamed through
research.”
Much of that research has been
made possible because of farmer
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elected farmer volunteers. The
lowa Soybean Promotion Board
has supported Fehr’s breeding
research since 1972.
“I’ll agree with any farmer who
believes research ought to be
stopped - if in this coming year
farmers don’t spend any time
thinking about how to improve
their efficiency,” Fehr says, "And
that’s just not going to happen.”
What would happen if farmers
stopped funding research?
“Let’s suppose we discontinue
our research in the genetic area.
Will farmers be satisfied with that
when some unexpected problem
comes along? I don’t think so,”
Fehr says.
“What if in the 1970 s we said ‘so
what if some farmers in northern
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lowa have an iron chlorosis
problem’? We wouldn’t have a
variety resistant to that problem
today,” Fehr explains.
How important is checkoff
money to soybean research?
"Quite frankly, the research in
lowa without the checkoff would be
extremely minimal,” Fehr ex
plains. “The checkoff money has
really been the thing that has given
us the opportunity to delve into
high risk research which has no
promise of success, but which - it
it works - will make an important
contribution.”
Iron cholorosis resistant
soybeans is a good example. “We
had no assurance of a paj&ff,”
Fehr relates. "But here we are - a
relatively short time later -
looking at having germplasm
available for public and private
breeders to use that is more
trenglh
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resistant to that problem than any
genotype known to exist in the
world today.
“But without checkoff support,
we would not have had the op
portunity to undertake that kind of
research,” Fehr says.
Other soybean researchers are
quick to agree. Says soybean
breeder Dr. David Weaver of
Auburn University, “If I didn’t get
checkoff support, my work would
be severely limited. It’s hard to get
outside grants - from the USDA
and industry for example - for
breeding work because it’s not
considered basic research.”
Edward Wisk, University of
Delaware researcher, says
checkoff funding allows him to do
much more on certain projects
than he would otherwise be able to
do.
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conducts soybean variety tests at
four locations in the state. Says
Wisk, "Our variety testing
program has grown less than 10
commercial entries four years
ago, to entries in 1981, to 49
entries in 1982. That’s more than a
50-percent increase in on year. ”
Why can’t soybean farmers rely
on private company research'.'
“One mission of the private
sector is short term variety
development,” explains Fehr.
“They have very specific ob
jectives - to improve soybeans for
characters of immediate im
portance and payoff.
“For example, 1 recently
responded to some questions from
someone in the private sector
about research we are doing on soy
oil quality. We are trying some
high risk research to determine if
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