Speedy Soybean Breeding

There is much talk about meeting growing global demand for protein – with soybeans playing a major role in feeding the world – but decisions by the soybean farmers of Iowa that began with a big idea from a young soybean breeder have made a marked difference in increasing soybean production in the United States.

Dr. Walter Fehr joined the faculty at Iowa State University (ISU) in 1967. He brought with him an idea that changed the future of soybean breeding. 

While working on his PhD dissertation, Fehr worked with Dr. Lambert at the University of Minnesota who was accelerating his soybean breeding program by growing a crop in Chile during the winter. “It was obvious to me,” says Fehr, “that the breeding program at ISU could not be as effective as that of other universities if we continued to grow only one crop a year.”

Although Chile was an attractive option, Fehr wanted to accelerate his research even faster by growing two crops in the winter instead of only one. His first attempt, a project in Hawaii, didn’t turn out as well as he had hoped because of pests, and salt water in the irrigation system. So he set his sights on Puerto Rico. 

“Dr. Charles Brim, a USDA-ARS researcher at North Carolina State was growing one crop a year at a USDA facility in Puerto Rico and was having some success. I could not use his facility because I was not an USDA employee, so I thought it might be possible to collaborate with the state experiment station in Isabela. I wrote to them in 1969 and never heard back,” says Fehr. “In March 1970, my wife and I decided to take our mothers and our two children to Puerto Rico for a family vacation. I decided if I could not plant the seeds in my suitcase, at least we could explore a new part of the world. When I arrived at the research station, the manager said he had been expecting me, even though he had not written to tell me.”

And that’s how this visionary research program began. 

“I was just building on what my colleagues were doing,” says Fehr. “I thought there was no reason we couldn’t grow two crops each year instead of one to more rapidly advance generations.” After the first year, he expanded the work to cross plants as well.

“Walt Fehr’s vision of how soybean breeding could be done defined the way the industry operates today,” says David Wright, director of contract research for the Iowa Soybean Association. “By developing a winter nursery for soybeans that could be used for crossing and selection year-round, knowledge and technology were advanced exponentially.” 

In 1972 the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board saw that Dr. Fehr’s vision was the right way to go to exponentially speed up soybean research, and agreed to support the year ‘round nursery in Puerto Rico – a novel decision for a state commodity organization. 

“The ability to conduct research in Iowa and Puerto Rico has dramatically increased the speed with which we can advance the variety development process,” says Fehr. “This has had a huge impact on development of novel traits. The speed at which we can develop and introduce new traits into soybean varieties has made a big impact on the soybean industry.”

According to Fehr, one of the most important advancements impacting the soybean industry is yield. He says soybean yield has improved one-half bushel per year, which is much more than could have been accomplished without the winter nursery.

The other major accomplishment has been the ability to introduce novel traits into soybean varieties significantly faster than would otherwise be possible. 

The year ‘round soybean breeding approach has since been adopted by the soybean seed industry and other university researchers. “The winter nursery is a way of life now,” says Fehr. “It’s like the introduction of computers. We used to calculate all those formulas by hand. Now we can’t fathom doing that. It has been a very enjoyable journey.”

The other advancement was the introduction of technology. Because of the increased intensity of the dual-location, year ‘round program, Fehr was always looking for ways to be more efficient. He and his colleague Robert Clark were instrumental in developing the basic design of the plot combine that is now widely used by the soybean industry. 

“The idea was to mechanize the planting and harvest process in order to substantially increase the number of lines we could evaluate each year, compared with what we were able to do with hand harvesters when I began in 1967,” says Fehr. There are still a few Clark-Fehr combines to be found in research plots around the world, the prototype from which the now popular ALMACO plot combines are made. 

“The technology allowed us to expand the number of lines we could evaluate to increase genetic progress,” says Fehr. “The more lines we test, the better chance we have to find lines that are superior.”

In addition, introducing technology like computers and bar code scanners has helped make the testing of lines more practical.

“It’s about looking around at what’s happening in the world and applying those technologies to plant breeding that are used in other industries,” says Fehr. “It’s all part of improving the progress we make each year, improving how fast we can go from the cross to identifying better material to cross again.

“The current system is the best we can do to turn material over in a short amount of time,” he adds. “Future changes will involve the introduction of technology that can be utilized to improve selection in our year-round nurseries, as is already done with molecular markers.”

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