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Dr. Walter Fehr's soybean breeding program at Iowa State University is recognized as one of most successful programs of its kind. But the program success isn't measured in varieties alone - its also measured by the partnerships that drive activity, the educational benefits for students and the overall impact on supporting a strong soybean industry.

At the 2006 Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain meeting, Fehr identified key ingredients that make his program effective and sustainable, providing Committee members with a case study as the plant breeding community continually strives for better systems.

Key ingredients

Nurturing young minds. When Fehr was an undergraduate student, he benefited greatly from the mentorship and opportunities provided by leading plant breeders at the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University.

"I had the privilege of working with three wonderful plant breeders," he says. "What I learned from them is it is possible to successfully integrate education, basic research and variety development at a university."

One of these breeders gave Fehr an internship and an independent research project. "That really ended up launching my career in plant breeding."

Training the next generation. As an educator at Iowa State University, Fehr has attempted to return the favor by providing many internship opportunities for promising students. "I have up to eight undergraduate student interns each fall, and part of their responsibility is to design a cultivar development program from start to finish for the traits that we work on."

Fehr also takes on many graduate students and places a strong emphasis on practical experience as part of their education, which typically includes managing a part of the cultivar development program. "One of the most gratifying things about being a university professor is watching a young person walk into your office who doesn't have a clue of how to manage a research program, and leave after their graduate studies with the confidence that they can do that."

This aspect is often overlooked when people attempt to assess the economic value of breeding programs, he says. "I have no clue as to how I would help young people become managers of research programs if they didn't have the opportunity to do it working with me as a graduate student."

Focus on innovation. Working with a crop that enjoys strong private sector investment, Fehr has focused on areas of innovation that complement other efforts.

"I've attempted to work in areas where the private sector is not interested, because the market receipt for seed is too small."

That has meant a lot of work with novel traits in areas that at first may not seem to have great economic potential. "For me, that's worked out very successfully. Because even if a novel trait fails, we'll have several graduate students who will earn their degrees working on the problem and figuring out what it means to try and integrate a novel trait into a soybean cultivar."

When a trait does work out, it typically delivers very strong value by opening new market opportunities, he notes.

Long-term farmer check-off support. Perhaps the greatest factor in the success of Fehr's program has been the unwavering funding support of soybean producers, who since 1972 has provided consistent funding to the program through a check-off program.

"When I began this program, I had federal and state funding for my salary, a technician and a couple of graduate students, but very little for current expense. In 1972 that all changed, and if it wasn't for that change I wouldn't be hear talking to you today."

The sustained funding has been an enormous advantage. "I don't have to tell any of you in this audience, how critical it is to a breeder to have those dollars coming in every year that you can count on. When I think of my interaction with the private sector, the first thing I think of are the farmers of Iowa and the outstanding support they have given to me."

Entrepreneurial partners. The second private sector group that's a critical partner for the program are entrepreneurial farmers and agribusiness people, who are looking to support novel ways to add value to the soybean crop.

"As a public breeder I'm at the mercy of somebody out there who has the guts to try to see whether these new traits will make any sense commercially," says Fehr. "When you have the privilege I have, of working with these kinds of entrepreneurial individuals, it's very critical. My varieties would be nothing if these people weren't willing to try and take them to market."

A good example occurred a few years ago, after the Food and Drug Administration announced labeling requirements for trans fats. It so happened Fehr had two varieties in the pipeline with a potentially valuable healthy oil profile. A group of 35 farmers in southeast Iowa stepped up to the plate to help Fehr pursue the opportunity.

A short time later, these 35 farmers formed a limited liability corporation, capitalized it with their own funds, brought in two marketing people, contracted production and arranged a partnership to do the processing. "A national brand now has the oil already on the market, and basically they cannot get enough production to meet the demand."

Eye to the future. While the positives are many, a key challenge Fehr sees ahead is navigating restrictions on germplasm sharing that have emerged with the evolution of generic ownership rights. "We're running into situations in dealing with our private sector colleagues where either we can't access novel traits, or the terms are so onerous we wonder if it's worth the effort."

Still, with continued strong producer backing, he is very optimistic about the future for his program. "The support and cooperation I have from the soybean farmers of Iowa is a utopian situation for someone in the public sector. I think it's pretty difficult for anyone to have a better situation than what I enjoy."

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