Vol. 9, No. 1, February 2002

In This Issue

• Researchers Look to Modify Current System for Identifying SCN Races
• Failure to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights Provides Edge to Argentine Producers
• Wild Soybean Relatives Examined as New Source of Resistance to SCN
• New Statewide Survey Counts Beetles in Soybean Fields
• Processing System Provides New Opportunities for Soymilk Research

• From the Directorís Desk

Following decades of work by nematologists and soybean breeders, growers today have access to a large number of varieties with excellent agronomic characteristics and resistance to soybean cyst nematode (SCN). Many growers are so pleased with the results that they continue to use the same resistant varieties year after year.

But, continuing that practice can create bigger SCN problems over time, according to Terry Niblack, nematologist with University of Illinois Extension and professor in the Department of Crop Sciences.

"Because resistant varieties do not have complete resistance, repeated use of the same variety will allow a few nematodes to develop and reproduce," she says. "Those nematodes are adapted to the resistant variety and can build up rapidly to levels that will reduce yield. This yield reduction often remains hidden for years in fields that appear healthy."

The adaptation of SCN to resistant varieties is often referred to as "race shift." To farmers and seed producers used to dealing with the concept of race in Phytophthora or wheat stem rust, it would seem that this effect is rather straightforward. By putting selection pressure on the SCN population, it will soon shift to a new race that is not controlled by the resistance.

"Our understanding of SCN was certainly at that level in 1970 when the first race system was published," Niblack says. "Today, however, we know that the race designation represents only an average for a population of SCN. The designation is based on a pattern of rating resistance to four differential linesñPickett, Peking, PI 88788, and PI 90763. The current races, in fact, do not represent specific genotypes with mutually exclusive genes for resistance."

Although the current race system has allowed development of resistant varieties that have saved growers billions of dollars, it does not allow researchers to keep up with changes in soybean genetics and SCN genetic diversity that may occur in the future.

"We have definitely reached a dead end with the usefulness of the current race system," Niblack says. "The choices today are not to keep or modify it, but instead to either modify it or junk it entirely."

As a result, a group of nematologists, geneticists, and soybean breeders with years of experience working with SCN recently met under the auspices of the United Soybean Board to modify the current race system. The changes were purposely made to be as conservative as possible.

Under the new system, the concept of races will be replaced with a designation by HG Type. The term comes from Heterodera glycines, which is the Latin name for SCN. The use of the term type is free of the implications of race as a genotype designation.

The variety Pickett will also be dropped from the list of lines used to determine the designations. Pickett was derived from Peking and has no known genes that are different for resistance to SCN. Four new sources of SCN resistance, which have been identified in recent years, will be added as indicator lines.

"This new system will probably not come into common use with growers in the immediate future," Niblack says. "Currently it is primarily being used as a tool for soybean and nematode geneticists to more precisely describe SCN populations than with the race system. In a few years, however, the HG Type system will likely replace the race system unless a new system based on the SCN genotypes is developed by then."

She notes that the current recommendation for growers with SCN infestations to rotate their resistant varieties by switching sources of resistance remains unchanged.

"Most growers do not know what races occur in their fields and most will not need to know what HG Type they have," Niblack says. "For those who do want to know, we are working on a modified HG Type test based on the sources of resistance available to growers. Seed companies that currently label their soybean varieties according to race resistance will eventually have to come up with a more informative label."

She emphasizes that none of this changes the fact that SCN can still cause major yield losses for growers with infested fields.

"The rules are still the same," Niblack says. "If a field has not been tested for SCN, test it. If a field has SCN, monitor it. If resistant varieties are used, do not use the same one in the next rotation."

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The inability to enforce intellectual property rights in Argentina has given soybean producers in that nation a comparative advantage over U.S. producers, according to a recent study by Peter Goldsmith, agribusiness management specialist with University of Illinois Extension.

He notes that the situation which allows Argentine producers to pay less for Roundup Ready seed reflects a larger problem that challenges current practices in U.S. agriculture and portends fundamental changes if American farmers are to remain competitive.

"We are in the midst of a structural change in agriculture," says Goldsmith, who is also assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics. "The change is not only dramatic on the demand side, but also the inputs side as well and will have major repercussions for producers vis-a-vis their relations with large international supply firms."

Three years ago after it became clear that the Roundup Ready seed was selling for less in Argentina, Congress directed the General Accounting Office to study the situation.

"The study clearly showed that soybean seed was cheaper in Argentina than in the United States, while corn seed was priced the same," Goldsmith says. "This pricing phenomena reflects differences between corn and soybeans and a firm's ability to protect its intellectual property. Corn is hybrid, while soybeans are not."

Roundup Ready soybean seed is sold cheaper in Argentina because no system exists to effectively protect intellectual property rights which would allow the seed company to charge a noncompetitive price. Goldsmith made a case study of Pioneer's seed business in Argentina to determine why the difference between corn and soybean seed prices existed.

"I found that a multinational corporation like Pioneer has no real ability to control the price on some of its products, notably soybeans," he says. "That is because seed can be saved by farmers and used again. Distributors also ëbrown-bag' seed, that is sell it in plain bags without the company logo. In Argentina, 80 percent of the soybean seed market is either farmer-saved or brown-bagged."

He notes, there was a one million hectare increase in soybean planting in Argentina during the 2000 crop yearñalmost all of it brown-bagged or farmer-saved seed.

"As a result, when it comes to soybean seeds, firms like Pioneer and Monsanto are not able to charge premium prices like they can in the United States," Goldsmith says. "Corn, on the other hand, remains a business in which seed can and is sold at U.S. prices."

The existence of farmer-saved and brown-bagged seed in the Argentine soybean industry reflects larger disputes between the so-called "north" and "south" worlds in regards to intellectual property.

"World Trade Organization (WTO) rules attempt to place a first-world or ënorthern' property system as the standard," Goldsmith says. "But to actually implement those rules in ësouthern' nations can sometimes prove to be a very different and difficult thing. The institutions that could be brought to bear on someone violating those rules in the ënorth' simply don't exist in a nation like Argentina."

Multinational companies have little influence because they are dependent for sales upon a network of distributors who may be the ones doing the brown-bagging of their seed.

"As a multinational, you need those distributors to sell your other products," Goldsmith says. "In essence, something like Roundup Ready seed becomes a loss leader to ensure other business.

He further noted that any action is further complicated by the current state of Argentina's economy.

"Argentina is on the verge of bankruptcy," he says. "To provide intellectual property protection, the government would have to be willing to inflict short-term harm on some sectors of the economy plus come up with the money to pay for enforcement. A country in the midst of crisis simply doesn't have the incentive to address a problem like this."

Goldsmith foresees the situation becoming more challenging for U.S. producers as they see more and more of their commodity markets slipping away to low-cost "southern" nations like Brazil and Argentina.

"Today, technology is not bounded by region and locality," he says. "For a number of reasons, Roundup Ready technology has huge advantages for Argentine producers. With cheap seed and cheap technology they are able to produce yields that can be higher than U.S. yields. Thirty years ago, corn enjoyed a two to one acreage advantage over soybeans in Argentina. Today, that ratio is three to one in soybeans' favor."

Projections indicate that such factors are likely to move the base of soybean production to South America by 2020. Indications are that some processors have already recognized this by building large-scale crushing plants in South America.

"Poultry production is expanding dramatically in South America," Goldsmith says. "Will hog production follow?"

He points out that the United States has a couple of options, such as trying to maintain income through price and income support programs.

"But global supply pressures will keep prices soft," Goldsmith says. "Average production costs for producers continue to rise making it difficult for the average farmer to generate real profits based on the world price of soybeans."

Another response involves better enforcement of WTO guidelines in regards to intellectual property rights. While this would be a good thing for U.S. agriculture, Goldsmith notes that "southern" nations are reluctant to do so as long as U.S. farm price-support programs remain in effect.

"The most promising response is infrastructure investment that would exploit U.S. agriculture's competitive advantages," he says. "We've seen this strategy used in other industries going through structural change. We need to focus more on our service capabilities and innovation and invest in training for producers."

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Although growers have access to many resistant varieties, soybean cyst nematode (SCN) continues to rank as the most important threat to soybean yields across the Midwest. SCN infestations are especially problematic because many of the symptoms are not readily visible in a field. In fact, SCN likely causes more yield losses for growers in Illinois than all other soybean pathogens combined.

"Once SCN becomes established in a field, the infestation becomes difficult to eradicate resulting in the need for long-term management strategies," says Brian Diers, Soybean breeder in the Department of Crops Sciences at the University of Illinois. "Most of those strategies currently include the use of crop rotation and resistant varieties. However, SCN populations may overcome the resistance genes that are currently used by soybean breeders, which will make current management strategies ineffective."

Diers notes that more than 90 percent of the SCN-resistant varieties available to Illinois growers derive their resistance genes from PI 88788, which is a line introduced from China in 1930. Genetic mapping further indicates that several other available sources, such as PI 437654 (Hartwig), may have resistance genes in common.

Having varieties with different resistance genes decreases the chances that a SCN population would be successful in colonizing a soybean field as the nematode population changes over time.

As a result, Diers and other researchers in the U of Iís Department of Crop Sciences have turned to a close relative of the soybean in their search for new SCN resistance genes. Glycine soja is the wild annual ancestor of the soybean and can be crossed with the soybean to look for these new resistance genes.

Working in collaboration with scientists at the University of Missouri and the USDA research unit at Iowa State University, Diers has already identified SCN resistance genes in the wild relative. The resistance genes from Glynicine soja have not been previously identified, suggesting that they can serve as a new source of SCN resistance. Primary funding for this effort was provided by the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board and Soybean Board.

Diers is currently introducing these new resistance genes into high-yielding genetic backgrounds. He is also testing these genes in combination with other SCN resistance genes to determine if they could provide resistance against a broad range of SCN populations.

"Although much work remains to be done, this finding marks a step toward diversifying the resistance genes to SCN currently available to soybean growers," Diers says. "Most importantly, this work should provide the stateís soybean breeders with another important tool to use against one of the soybean cropís biggest yield-robbers."

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In the battle against beetles found in soybean fields, knowing how many are actually out there is a first step toward finding solutions to the problems they may cause to a crop. As a result, a team of scientists and students at the University of Illinois and the Illinois Natural History Survey has been counting beetles in Illinois soybean fields since 1997.

The results of their 2001 survey are now available on the Web at http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~s-isard/Beetles/. Visitors to the site can click on any county in Illinois and receive information about the population of six different beetles in that county, including: western corn rootworm, northern corn rootworm, Japanese beetle, bean leaf beetle, grape colaspis and ladybird beetles.

The team has been monitoring beetle population densities and distributions at 100-200 different sites in 40-50 Illinois counties. This year, the sampling area was expanded to include almost the entire state of Illinois.

Primary funding for the project was provided by the Illinois Soybean Checkoff Board and a Sentinel Grant from the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR).

"Nearly 500 different soybean fields were sampled in all," says Joe Spencer, entomologist with the College of ACES and Illinois Natural History Survey. "The samples were gathered from four to six fields in each county during the last week of July and the first week in August."

The scientists have focused on the western corn rootworm, which can lay eggs in soybean fields as well as cornfields allowing it to circumvent the control that crop rotation once provided, and the bean leaf beetle, but also keep an eye on other soybean insects and some potential pests.

"Gathering the samples was not an easy task," Spencer says. "We walked up and down the rows of soybean with sturdy insect nets which was swept across the plant canopy, counting exactly 100 sweeps per field. The insect nets scooped up insects of all kinds. Collecting across Illinois allows the team to follow and map changes in the statewide distribution of rootworms and other pests. We also freeze and use the beetles to answer questions about their biology."

Some insects are processed to look for genetic differences between distant populations. Other insects are dissected so the team can analyze what the insects were eating before they were caught and whether they were ready to lay eggs in the soybean field.

"Nothing goes to waste from our collection effort," Spencer says. "We have freezers full of insects to prove it. Soybean foliage was also collected from each field. Our USDA collaborators are now processing it to look for any plant diseases that the insects might be spreading."

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The research and development capabilities of the Illinois Center for Soy Foods at the University of Illinois have received a major boost with the installation of a new processing system capable of producing soymilk on a medium commercial scale. The system was provided to the Center by BAR NA, a soybean equipment manufacturing company located in Seymour, Illinois.

"This equipment provides us with the capability of producing high-quality soymilk, soy yogurt, and other products, which can be packaged and marketed in commercial quantities," says Barbara Klein, U of I professor of Food Science and co-director of the Center. "Such a system is almost certainly unique within a university setting. It opens up many new research opportunities and will allow us to bring in researchers from companies and other universities who may be interested in testing out new technologies."

The Agrolactor system, which was developed by the Actni Company in France, has a capacity of 250 liters per hour. It can be combined with other attachments to form a complete soymilk production facility. The loan from BAR NA was arranged through the efforts of Karl Weingartner, assistant director of technical training for the Center.

Klein points out that the new system ties in well with plans by the Center to open a soy foods store, where a variety of soy products can be test marketed to the public.

"We can now do research on a wide range of soy beverages and fermented products," she says. "It can be used to test which soybean varieties and different added flavors work best in a product. We also can look at the consumer acceptance of those products because we can produce them in quantities that we can actually sell in our store."

Pradeep Khanna, who serves as deputy director of the Center, notes that the system also will enhance the Centerís technical support activities, which involve evaluating and developing new soymilk production technologies for companies both in the U.S. and overseas.

"The U of I has a long history as an innovator in research on soymilk," Khanna says. "This new system will allow us to continue on the cutting edge in developing and testing new soymilk technologies. With the equipment in place, we can identify technologies that are best suited to the need of different countries and better teach people in the U.S. and overseas how to use this soymilk technology."

The need for more efficient commercial processing systems has become increasingly important as the demand for soymilk products has continued to grow in recent years. Much of this increase in demand has been fueled by health concerns in the U.S. and shortages of milk in many other countries.

"Most of the equipment we tested in the past had a capacity of 40 liters or less per hour and was suitable only for very small enterprises," he says. "Now we have a machine with a capacity ideal for a medium-sized company. By adding a small packaging unit, a businessman in almost any part of the world can have access to a medium-scale soymilk production system."

Khanna further notes that the research with this new system is backed by years of experience dealing with soy processing companies around the world.

"We know from experience what kind of equipment is needed in countries which are importing U.S. soybeans through food aid and commercial channels," he says. With the system up and running in our pilot plant, we can better educate buyers of U.S. soybeans on the many opportunities for soymilk processing. We also can conduct the kinds of research and testing that will allow us to make better soymilk. We hope this stamp of approval will provide many more entrepreneurs and established companies with the confidence to begin processing soybeans into a wide variety of commercial products."

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From the Directorís Desk

Globalization was one of the new terms that emerged in the 1990s. Through much of that decade, globalization was synonymous with widespread economic growth, the adoption of democracy, and the advent of technologies allowing individuals throughout the world unprecedented access to information. But this same concept became a reviled rallying cry for violent protests during the World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Seattle and Milan.

Although even its opponents acknowledge its correlation with economic growth, globalization is not the product of any single phenomenon. Instead, it is the complex result of massive changes in technology, in how investment occurs, and in how individuals learn about their local and global circumstances. Capitalism and the market economy are intertwined with globalization. Of these two phenomena, it is not necessarily clear which is cause and which is effect. Clearly they are interlinked.

Philosophically, globalization reduces one of the most basic historic constraints of human existence, the tyranny of the place. For much of human history, the scope of an individualís understanding and opportunity were fundamentally linked to where they were born. But the tyranny of the place is not just applicable to the issue of where people live. Instead, humans were fundamentally limited in terms of:

• Where they could go,
• What they could buy,
• Where they could invest, and
• What they could read, hear, and see.

With globalization the power to choose has come to individuals, providing choices that historically had not been available to them. Instead those choices had been the province of governments, social institutions, and cultural traditions. On the one hand, this expansion of choices is excitingly liberating. Conversely, those liberating developments threaten the status quo and the self-interest of those with entrenched economic and social interests.

Relative to agriculture and food, globalization and rapid economic growth in developing nations remain critically important to the future well-being of the worldís people. As income increases in developing nations, a significant portion of that greater income will be devoted to additional food purchases. The magnitude of these additional food purchases will be one of the key factors determining the profitability of food production in the future.

As we look to the future, we could expect that globalization will emphasize foreign direct investment, technology transfer of knowledge, and an increasing role for intangible assets based upon intellectual property rights. This would be true for food and agriculture as for other components of the economy. The notion that a growing world population and economic growth can play prominent roles in enhancing profitability of tomorrowís agriculture is predicated on the assumption that globalization will continue to be a major force in the future.

Yet, there is nothing guaranteeing that this assumption will turn out to be true. Whether our concern is economic growth or more general human well-being, it is not just enough to assume that globalization will increase or even be maintained. We, as individuals and collectively within society, need to be vigilant to ensure that the positive results of globalization are not lost in the future.

Steve Sonka

NSRL Director and Soybean Industry Chair in Agricultural Strategy

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The NSRL Bulletin is published three times a year by the National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois, 170 National Soybean Research Center, 1101 W. Peabody Drive, Urbana, IL 61801; telephone (217) 244-1706; e-mail nsrl@uiuc.edu; FAX (217) 244-1707. Steven T. Sonka, director; Robert J. Wynstra, editor; Debra Levey Larson and Bob Sampson, contributing editors; David Riecks, photographer; Lynn Hawkinson Smith, graphic designer.

Unless otherwise stated, articles may be reproduced or quoted if credit is given to the NSRL Bulletin. The National Soybean Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois is an affirmative action and equal opportunity institution.