Our soybean breeding program is strongly committed to developing disease-resistant cultivars to ensure crop sustainability and high yield performance. A major focus of our efforts includes resistance to key pathogens such as Cercospora leaf blight and Phytophthora root and stem rot, which significantly impact soybean productivity worldwide. Through advanced breeding techniques, including phenotypic screening, molecular marker screening, and field evaluations across multiple environments, we aim to identify and incorporate durable resistance genes into elite soybean lines.

Our soybean breeding program has a strong emphasis on developing cultivars that are resistant to major nematode pests, including soybean cyst nematode (SCN), southern root-knot nematode (SRKN), and reniform nematode. These soil-borne pathogens pose serious threats to soybean production, often causing significant yield losses. Our multi-state efforts and screening, together with marker-assisted selection strategies, enable us to deliver cultivars with robust and durable resistance, helping farmers manage nematode pressure more effectively while promoting sustainable and profitable soybean production.

Our soybean breeding program is actively advancing efforts to improve resistance to stink bugs that can cause severe damage to pods and seeds, leading to reduced yield and quality. Stink bugs have increased its incidence across the years in the state of Missouri. With advanced breeding strategies, we aim to develop soybean cultivars with enhanced resilience to stink bug, reducing reliance on insecticides and contributing to more sustainable pest management.