Soybeans, eh?
Ontario digs in to help soybean farmers on both sides of border By Owen Roberts Canadians and Americans share many pursuits – democracy, independence and a common desire to nip soybean diseases in the bud. Geography, funding sources, grower characteristics and the nature of extension in Canada all mean contributions to the industry from north of the 49th parallel have unique aspects and qualities.
That serves the entire industry well, because Canadians pride themselves in assisting in the international effort to help soybean farmers beat plant diseases. Indeed, Ontario’s contributions to the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) and the Plant Health Initiative are helping control soybean problems and increase yields from Michigan to Louisiana.
The lion’s share of soybeans in Canada are grown in Ontario, the country’s southern-most province. Thanks to ground-breaking research from companies such as First Line Seeds and institutions including the University of Guelph, the Ontario Soybean Growers, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), the province has taken a leadership position in early-maturing varieties and niche marketing, particularly in developing food grade soybeans for export. Ontario has at least one natural advantage: Its winters are harsh enough to stave off some of the pests and diseases that are a problem in north central states. That makes isolating the effects of those intruders easier when they’re identified in Ontario.
The province’s soybean sector is solidly behind Can-Am efforts to control diseases and pests. Albert Tenuta, field crops extension plant pathologist of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, personifies the multi-faceted commitment. Tenuta is a provincial government employee, but his office and some field plots are located on the University of Guelph’s Ridgetown campus, about 90 minutes from the Windsor-Detroit border. He works closely with his 14 OMAFRA field crop extension colleagues, as well as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the farmer-based Ontario Soybean Growers, seed companies and crop protection companies as well as his counterparts from America.
“We’re very fortunate to have U.S. soybean extension researchers, the USDA and grower associations as partners,” says Tenuta, the provincial extension plant pathologist since 1991. “Plant disease doesn’t know borders, and by working together to target the most significant diseases we can help farmers. In fact, I’d say this is likely the model for how a crop can progress through partnerships.”
The joint approach began back in the late 1990s. North-central soybean researchers and program administrators from both sides of the border attending science symposia realized farmers’ fields shared common ills – phytophthora root rot, white mold, soybean cyst nematode, brown stem rot, soybean viruses and more. They also realized their budgets were limited, and that by working together they could make human resources and research funding go further. It was an approach that resonated with grower organizations, says Crosby Devitt, manager of research and innovation for the Ontario Soybean Growers, who attended some of the symposia and marveled at the common ground.
“When you’re at these meetings, you don’t really identify the problems or the researchers, as distinctly Canadian or American,” he says. “But we all have different strengths and perspectives, and when we bring these together to bear on a problem it can go a long ways toward pest management and improving yields for farmers.” Industry sees it the same way. “Why reinvent the wheel?” says Art Stirling, who was the government and industry affairs manager for Pioneer Hi-Bred Ltd. in nearby Chatham, Ontario, when extension researchers began seeking industry support. “We should look at these kinds of partnerships more often to maximize resources and enhance the effectiveness for producers.”
Cross-border cooperation is working, as shown by a recently completed NCSRP project led by Prof. Anne Dorrance, a plant pathology researcher with The Ohio State University. Tenuta, along with Terry Anderson at the federal research station in Harrow, Ontario, assisted in categorizing Phytophthora sojae pathotypes in the north central U.S. and Ontario. These results will speed Phytophthora-resistant variety development and target soybean varieties best suited for specific regions thus reducing grower losses to the disease. Partnerships continue looking into other problems, such as aphids. The Ontario component of the aphid project is coordinated by Ontario field crop entomologist Tracey Baute.
But without question, the piece de resistance in cross-border cooperation is the united effort to deal with soybean rust. This comprehensive program created by Dorrance, Dr. David Wright with the Iowa Soybean Association, Ontario’s Tenuta and dozens of other researchers has earned soybean rust a well-deserved reputation as the perhaps most defended-against plant disease ever. Extensive surveillance (including the Ontario Soybean Rust Coalition’s 30 sentinel plots) supports reams of pertinent information and educational material designed to help farmers identify, understand and treat the disease. Among the CDs, identification cards and manuals available is a 52-page magazine-like guide for using foliar fungicides to manage soybean rust. It’s a colorful, readable publication with contributions from a wide cross-section of researchers, and it’s proven extremely popular on both sides of the border.
And now, the researchers’ work on soybean rust is leading to more joint efforts. Tenuta says their next frontier is the nagging, chronic kinds of problems that challenge northern soybean production areas, such as soybean cyst nematode. “There are still some old enemies out there,” says Tenuta, “and our biggest challenge is that Mother Nature gives plant diseases the ability to react to our management strategies. It’s an ever-changing battlefield, and we need to work together as partners, not competitors, to solve problems.” Adds Ohio State’s Dorrance, “I’m definitely a believer that there’s more brainpower when we work together.”
