Clarke McGrath, CSI Field Manager, ANR Extension
Situation:
The cornerstone of the Corn and Soybean Initiative is the partnering of ISUs team of research and extension faculty/staff, with retail agribusinesses, consultants, trade associations, major companies and farm media. These public-private partnerships have the ability to be effective tools in delivering production information to growers.
Therfore, developing long-lasting agribusiness relationships is our priority. The partnerships and subsequently relationships are an important component of the initiative's strategy. One of the activities that ISUs staff participates in with partners is the Research Roundtable, held each year on campus.
Objective:
The Research Roundtable provides an opportunity for Organizational, Media and Agribusiness partners to interact with dozens of ISU College of Ag researchers and College of Agriculture
administration to discuss current partner needs and provide direct input into ISUs applied research agenda.
Activities/Output:
Attendance numbers from the August 2007 research roundtable held at Curtiss Hall:
Retail partners represented at the 2007 roundtable 18
Retail agribusiness outlets represented at the roundtable 186
Counties with retail outlets represented at the roundtable 57
# of partner representatives attending 28
# of organizational and media partners represented 4
# of ISU posters and demonstrations, morning session 33
# of suggested issues discussed in the afternoon session 23
Impact/Outcomes:
Individual discussions between ISUs Corn and Soybean Initiative Partners and ISUs researchers and field staff during the morning poster session led to many research and demonstration ideas for the upcoming crop season. Most importantly, the partners worked with ISU staff to determine together what the most relevant issues are for research and informational needs to be shared with industry and producers.
A soybean aphid and whitefly group discussion was held in the afternoon, with key ISU specialists sharing integrated pest management strategies and discussing scouting, pesticides and thresholds with partners and staff. Impact of that discussion was captured very well with follow up discussions with key partners. 100% of those retail partners asked indicated that they did not spray insecticides to control whiteflies based on the discussion held at the research roundtable. The cumulative impact of the savings from not spraying for whiteflies, based on the discussions with the retail partners, approximately 350,000 acres. By deciding to not spray or recommend spraying for whiteflies based on the information shared at the research roundtable, Iowa producers saved approximately $3.8 million based on ISU recommendations.
2008
100 Corn and Soybean Production and Protection
Page last updated:
January 10, 2008
Page maintained by Linda Schultz, lschultz@iastate.edu
