In a world where new seed genetics quickly find their way from the breeder's lab to the field, MFA's MorSoy program combines careful screening and sources top-tier soybean lines to deliver the right seed for its trade territory.

Building a soybean brand doesn't happen overnight. Before the late 1980s, MFA offered mostly public varieties along with a very limited supply of proprietary genetics. The proprietary soybean lines were built with good genetics, but there was no overarching program to handle screening, marketing or distribution. Meanwhile, the '80s were the beachhead for huge changes in the industry. The advent of biotechnology was changing the seed market. And that technology would bring fundamental changes (think Roundup Ready) in the way seed made its way through the growing chain. It was the combination of these factors that conceived what has grown into MFA's MorSoy offerings.

Built to grow at home
"We wanted to target genetics with rifle-like accuracy to our soil type, disease pressures and environmental circumstances, as well as grower's cultural and equipment requirements," said Ron Utterback, vice president of MFA's seed division. Targeting soybean genetics is most easily done in latitudinal strips, of course, because of similar light requirements for specific maturity ranges. The challenge for MFA, with a trade territory that stretches from southern Iowa to Arkansas, was to build a soybeanportfolio that stretched in longitude. To offer a full range of maturity classes, from Group II to Group VI means the MorSoy program is a minor miracle of logistics for screening and sourcing genetics.

Rather than go to the expense and infrastructure needed for a breeding program, the MorSoy strategy is to sort through genetic sources available on the market and find those specific varieties that are well adapted for the trade territory.

The system works well in today's breeding environment.

"When we source genetics, we have a couple of things going for us," said Brian Anderson, production and marketing specialist for MFA seed. "First, we have the independence to only select soybean lines that fit our profile of good soybeans for our trade territory. We can avoid some of the inertia of huge breeding programs." And then there is the technology that has changed the breeding and growing of soybeans. The MorSoy line was early to market with Roundup Ready technology, putting some of the program's varieties on the forefront of the biotech boom. The nimbleness of MorSoy's system is one thing that allowed that early Roundup Ready offering. The other factor is the way new technology is delivered.

"When someone gets an improvement into a soybean line," said Anderson, "they want to get it into screening quickly. They want to get it to market because the return on their investment is based on a royalty."

That puts top-line genetics in the MorSoy program as quickly as they can prove themselves.

Finding keepers
On the other hand, the latest and greatest technology packed into a super-yielding variety won't mean much if an entire stand succumbs to disease or can't handle local environments. That's why screening and evaluation have become the keystone of the MorSoy process. The first step is to validate information offered from soybean breeders. If a new line of soybeans makes it past the initial validation tests, it is promoted to a second stage and tested via strip trials across multiple environments and production practices. If the line makes the grade at this point, it moves to limited seed production at multiple sites--with production fields inspected by a third party to assure they meet certified-seed level standards. Because seed production is done within the MorSoy trade territory, it doubles as a full-scale, field-size evaluation of the soybean line.

"One big advantage to MorSoy," said Paul Tracy, MFA staff agronomist, "is that these soybeans are grown in our trade territory. We know how they've done in the initial rounds of testing and field trials, but we also know, as the supply is multiplied, how they've done in full-scale production. We have an extra screening process."

Diseases like sudden death syndrome (SDS) can be local to particular soils. With multiple-site seed production, screeners get feedback on performance under stress of SDS and other local disease pressures that they might have missed if the seed production for a line of soybeans was performed out of state.

"We know to look for iron-clad resistance for two trouble spots in our territory," said Anderson. The first, soybean cyst nematode, is prevalent throughout the MorSoy territory. Phtophthora is the other major concern. As for sudden death syndrome, Anderson said it seems to be a moving target. University and private testing points toward large rain events just after planting and during certain times at flowering as the culprit for the disease. Studies show different varieties handle the disease with marked differences.

To make the bag
Once a soybean line makes it through the first round of seed multiplication--and is still performing well enough to make the MorSoy seed catalog--it is sold on limited basis while continuing to undergo strip-test evaluation, reaching full production the next season.

These days, a soybean variety sees a few good years and gives up its catalog space for an up and comer. Anderson has 9 or 10 lines of soybeans working through the last stages of testing at any time. If one proves itself, it is ready to go into bags for the next season and a year away from full-scale production.

He points out that the life cycle for soybean varieties has sped up.

"It used to be that you could figure about four-tenths of a bushel increase per year from new breeding efforts," he said. "Now it is closer to a bushel. I don't know how long breeders can sustain that. They're pushing the envelope." Some of that boost in yield can be attributed to the fact that breeders are getting better genetic packages bred into Roundup Ready soybeans, which, when they first came out, suffered in yield compared to conventional soybeans.

"Right now, we have 16 Roundup Ready varieties and 3 conventionals," said Anderson. "The increase in yield has been stronger in Roundup Ready because that's where breeders have put their focus lately. There are fewer people working on conventional soybeans."