Economic Analysis Shows How ISU Soybean Trials Generate Value for Farmers

June 25, 2020

This aerial photo shows crop damaged by soybean cyst nematodes, microscopic roundworms that feed on the roots of soybeans. Field trials conducted by Iowa State University provide farmers with valuable data on the performance of various soybean varieties with genetic resistance to the pests. Image courtesy of Gregory Tylka.

AMES, Iowa – Field trials led by Iowa State University scientists saved farmers and seed companies millions of dollars by helping them select soybean varieties resistant to a major pest, according to a new economic analysis.

The analysis was led by GianCarlo Moschini, Pioneer Chair in Science and Technology Policy in the ISU Department of Economics. The report found the Iowa State University SCN-Resistant Soybean Variety Trials have created a surplus of about $140 million in Iowa and Illinois between 2011 and 2016. The analysis estimates that farmers captured roughly a third of that surplus while seed companies held the rest.

Read the full ISU News Service story