SoyMizzou

08/20/2026

05/21/2026

Please help us welcome our high school student summer employees, Cheyanne Sawyer and Carter Partin, to the SoyMizzou FDREEC team!

Cheyanne will be a senior at North Pemiscot High School this fall. After graduation, she plans to attend Missouri State University, where she intends to major in Biology. Carter will be a junior at Portageville High School this fall and has an interest in Psychology. After graduation, he hopes to attend Tennessee State University, where he plans to continue pursuing his educational and career goals.

This week, Cheyanne and Carter have already jumped right in. They assisted with planting seeds in the greenhouse for 6K genotyping. Carter also helped with landscaping around the soybean lab, while Cheyanne packaged filler seed for our progeny rows.

Throughout the summer, they will gain hands-on experience in many aspects of soybean breeding and genetics, including soybean crossbreeding, planting operations, and field research. They will have opportunities to shadow team members in specialized areas such as drone imaging, disease research, drought research, seed composition analysis, and the equipment used in our GC laboratory. And, of course, they will become very familiar with chopping pigweeds along the way.

There is a tremendous amount to learn, but there will also be plenty of laughter, teamwork, and memorable experiences throughout the summer. We are excited to introduce these young students to the world of soybean breeding and genetics and look forward to sharing our passion for agricultural research with the next generation.

Welcome to the team, Cheyanne and Carter!

05/15/2026

The FDREEC is currently receiving plant and soil samples showing symptoms of Phytophthora.

If you are observing symptomatic plants in your fields, we encourage you to submit samples for evaluation. Early detection is important for identifying potential disease pressure and supporting timely management decisions.

05/14/2026

🌱 Attention Bootheel and Surrounding Missouri Farmers

With the recent rains and favorable environmental conditions, soybean plants may begin developing symptoms of soilborne diseases (known as damping-off). Please keep an eye on your fields during emergence and growth stages.
The University of Missouri Delta Center is gathering samples and information to help map the incidence of these diseases across the Bootheel region.

🔎 Watch for:
• Poor emergence or stand loss
• Wilting or stunted seedlings
• Root rot or damping-off symptoms

If you observe symptomatic plants, please bring plant and soil samples to the Delta Center along with the field location and planting details.

You can also ship the samples to us:

Jessica Argenta
Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center
147 State Hwy T, Portageville, MO 63873

Your support helps us better understand and manage these diseases across Southeast Missouri.

04/30/2026

While part of our team is busy planting yield trials, another part of the team went to the Farm for Soy Innovation in Columbia, where we were focused on seed phenotyping to identify soybean genotypes with high oleic (HO) content.

We used the QSorter® Explorer platform, a high-throughput technology that enables non-destructive, single-seed analysis using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), allowing us to rapidly evaluate various traits at the individual seed level. This type of system can evaluate thousands of seeds and sort them into classes based on biochemical properties.

In this run, we evaluated 16 different soybean populations derived from crosses between high oleic genotypes and high-yielding genotypes. Only those meeting our high oleic thresholds will advance to progeny rows, and ultimately to yield trials

By integrating seed phenotyping early in the breeding pipeline, we can make more informed selection decisions, reduce field costs, and accelerate breeding cycles by advancing only the most promising high-value material.

High oleic soybeans are gaining momentum due to their enhanced oil stability, improved nutritional profile, and growing demand in food and industrial applications. Selecting for this trait early helps align genetic gain with market needs.

A big thank you to the Missouri Soybeans for the continuous support, collaboration, and access to this technology.

04/20/2026

Planting season is officially underway!
Planting yield trials are a key part of our breeding program. They are helping us evaluate experimental lines for yield potential, stability, and adaptability across environments. The data from these trials guides our selection decisions, drives genetic gain, and supports the development of improved varieties for Southern Missouri and beyond.

Our first field went in the ground on Wednesday, and we’re already seeing early signs of germination. This field includes Advanced Yield Trials (26AYTs) and Delta Center Uniform (26DCU) yield trials. Next week, we’ll begin planting our first set of Preliminary Yield Trials (26PYTs), along with additional specialty trials.
Here’s to a productive season filled with valuable data, steady progress, and new discoveries.

Happy planting!