Research importance: The development and adoption of new soybean cultivars with higher yield, enhanced seed composition and resistance to various stresses help Minnesota soybean farmers achieve profitability. Most soybean cultivars purchased by farmers were developed by private seed companies, yet public soybean breeding still has an important role. The University of Minnesota Soybean Breeding program is a broad-based research and development program dedicated to advancement of soybean germplasm adapted to Minnesota; development of new breeding methods; discovery of new economically important traits and genes; the education of professionals in the agricultural industry, especially new plant breeders. The advancement of soybean germplasm for Minnesota takes multiple forms, ranging from the release and licensure of general-purpose soybean varieties to the development of specialty soybean varieties that command a premium for producers, to the integration of novel forms of pest resistance and seed composition into elite northern-adapted soybean varieties, effectively creating a bridge between researchers and the soybeans grown in farmers’ fields. We make our discoveries on the genetic control of economically important traits and breeding method improvements publicly available, contributing to the overall knowledge base that benefits all breeding programs, both public and private.

Research conducted: This past year we carried out the routine activities of our established breeding program. We made 100 new crosses, advanced generations of breeding in our winter nursery in Chile, planted yield trials across 11 Minnesota locations, collected samples for compositional analysis and multiplied seeds of promising new breeding lines for release as cultivars. We also carried out the UMN Soybean Variety Trials and published the results comparing the performance of more than 88 commercial varieties.