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New tool could improve soybean breeding processBy Doug Rich
The Kansas Soybean Association held its Kansas Soybean Expo in Topeka, Kan., on Jan. 11. A very popular program at the Soybean Expo is the update on soybean research at Kansas State University. This year researchers provided information on potassium levels in soil tests, soybean breeding, and glyphosate-resistant weeds. Soil tests David Mengel, Ph.D., professor of soil fertility and nutrient management at Kansas State University, gave an overview of a five-year research project done primarily in southeast Kansas on soil potassium levels. Mengel said about 80 percent of the state does not have a problem with potassium levels, but southeast Kansas is the exception. While doing their study Mengel said they were either doing a bad job of soil testing or something else was happening. They ran the tests again and came up with the same numbers, but did find the reason for the variations. "The availability of potassium in the field changes during the year," Mengel said. "This raised some questions about how we use a valuable tool like soil testing when in reality it may not be as wonderful as we think." Mengel said to use soil tests properly to manage soil fertility timing of the test is important. Their research showed that the proper time for accurate soil tests may be late winter or early spring. "Early spring sampling is the most stable," Mengel said. "Which is a little tough to do sometimes. The alternative is to sample more frequently in the fall," Mengel said. Soybean breeding Bill Schapaugh, Ph.D., soybean breeder at K-State, said they are experimenting with a new tool to speed up the election process when evaluating new soybean varieties. Schapaugh is taking the existing remote sensing technology used by Green Seeker to the next level. Green Seeker is used for on the fly assessments of plant health to aid producers in making management decisions. In a split second Green Seeker technology monitors the reflectance of over 2,000 wavelengths. Schapaugh wanted to find out if the spectral data collected by Green Seeker can tell them anything about yield potential. The study was conducted during early seed fill on both dry land and irrigated soybean fields. Then they developed a computer model to use spectral data to predict yield. The model was used to look at the relationship between predicted yield and the response to the change in variety releases over time. "There is quite a good relationship between spectral data and the variety release over time," Schapaugh said. "Spectral data is telling us something about these varieties and about yield." If the system were mechanized, it could be used to monitor thousands of genotypes very quickly. Schapaugh said this could be used as one tool in the plant breeding process to improve how many genotypes can be evaluated. "In plant breeding one thing that really helps is how big your program is," Schapaugh said. "The more genotypes you produce and evaluate the better off you are." Glyphosate resistance Glyphosate-resistant kochia weed is a problem in western Kansas and it is moving east, according to Phil Stahlman, Ph.D., weed scientist at the Ag Research Center in Hays, Kan. Glyphosate-resistant kochia is widespread throughout western Kansas and is creeping eastward. Most of these plants have a 6X resistance to glyphosate. "In 2007 we confirmed glyphosate resistance to kochia in four independent populations," Stahlman said. The problem with resistance in kochia really took off in 2010. In some fields 50 percent of the kochia plants were resistant to glyphosate. Most of the plants were injured but they but did go on to survive the herbicide application. "Any time you have side-by-side plants where some are dead but the plants right next to them look like they were not even sprayed, it is a pretty good indication that you might have resistance," Stahlman said. When looking at solutions Stahlman said they concentrated on individual chemicals rather than mixtures of chemicals to see what each of the active ingredients would bring to the table. "We recognize that in most cases we are going to need a mixture of herbicide modes of action," Stahlman said. Stahlman noted that 2,4-D does not bring much to the table for kochia control but it is the Clarity or dicamba that is carrying the load. Clarity plus 2,4-D applied pre-emergence in the spring provided good control for five to six weeks. In western Kansas soybean research nothing provided better than 90 percent control of kochia. There are several good options for control in corn, very options in soybeans, not very many good options in grain sorghum, and problems in fallow weed control, Stahlman said. "We have some challenges for herbicide alternatives for weed control in soybeans," Stahlman said. Farm bill The featured speaker during the awards luncheon at the Kansas Soybean Expo was Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-KS. Huelskamp outlined some of the issues facing Congress as they debate a new farm bill. The need for a good crop insurance program is at the top of that list. "We need to make sure that we have risk management tools that work," Huelskamp said. "I am confident that we will have a functional, workable and improved crop insurance program after and through the next farm bill." Huelskamp said the most distressed day he has had since going to Washington, D.C., was the day they heard from the people at MF Global. He said what they did was wrong and in his opinion people should be going to jail. Huelskamp said he was thankful that the super committee was not able to pass a farm bill as part of their deliberations and that it will go through the normal process--a process that Huelskamp said will include input from real farmers and ranchers from around the country. "I look forward to the farm bill debate," Huelskamp said. Doug Rich can be reached by phone at 785-749-5304 or by e-mail at richhpj@aol.com.
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