Illinois soybean farmers face constantly evolving agronomic challenges in their fields. How can they navigate these changes while seizing new opportunities? One great option is the growing toolbox of initiatives that’s available right now from the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) Agronomy Team.

Combined, these initiatives aim to deliver information and tools to help Illinois soybean farmers enhance on-farm profitability and manage crop production risks. Farming isn’t easy, but our team is here to inform producers’ decision-making and improve their outcomes.

In this article, I’ll share some of the latest ways we’re equipping farmers for success all season long. You can also check out the latest resources anytime at www.FieldAdvisor.org, the online agronomy content platform funded by the ISA checkoff program.

NRCS Outreach and Education Partnership

Let’s start with some of our most recent initiatives, then circle back to ongoing investments we’re regularly updating on behalf of soy farmers.

In August 2024, ISA entered into an outreach and education partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), specifically its Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). As part of this effort, ISA will develop materials designed to help farmers access NRCS financial assistance programs that can help pay for their implementation of conservation agriculture practices.

Farmers often tell us these programs are difficult to understand or navigate, and our goal is to create materials to help simplify the process.

In addition to creating educational content, the partnership will launch a website of helpful resources and will host field days highlighting conservation practice opportunities. We’ll also organize technical workshops diving deeper into the agronomic topics about which farmers care most.

On-Farm Trial Network (OFTN)

My background is in soils, so I’ve always been fascinated by our state’s wide range of soil types. Farmers in central and northern Illinois grow beans in black prairie soils, whereas in southern Illinois, farmers plant into forest soils and claypans.

To capture all of that variability and give regionally reliable research insights across the 10 million acres of Illinois soybean production, ISA launched the On-Farm Trial Network (OFTN) in September 2023. OFTN spans several types of research, including:

• Legacy Trials: Long-term sites continuously in place since 2017 focused on evaluating changes to soil health over time. Originally, Soil Health Partnership managed these sites as part of its trials. Now, ISA continues to evaluate how tillage and cover crops affect soil health. The Legacy Trials project continues to expand to capture a wider geographic area representing additional soils and climates common to Illinois farming.
• Action Trials: Short-term trials launching for the first time during the 2025 growing season to answer targeted agronomic questions. The first two protocols will test sulfur fertilization and insecticides to provide a better idea of how and when they impact yield and crop production. As with Legacy Trials, more Action Trials are expected to be added in the years ahead.

Results from these trials will be shared through a variety of platforms, including in-person field days and winter events and on the web at www.fieldadvisor.org.

Additionally, the inaugural Annual Insights Report will be released in the June 2025 issue of Illinois Field & Bean, and farmers can consult that report for results of ISA checkoff-funded research, and in the future, our on-farm trials.

Online Crop Report Tool

Crop scouting is an essential discipline for Illinois soybean farmers looking to maximize profitability and manage risk. Field Advisor’s Online Crop Report Tool released in April 2023 is designed to support that activity with up-to-date, region-specific information.

It’s already proven to be an effective decision-making tool: In mid-July 2024, several Crop Report contributors reported they’d begun finding aphids above threshold levels in certain corn hybrids. Usually, Illinois farmers don’t have to worry about this pest. The most likely cause was a wide range of planting dates.

Regardless of what prompted the outbreak, Field Advisor’s Online Crop Report Tool jumped in to help. We disseminated farmers’ reports to the Illinois farming community via Field Advisor social media posts, podcast episodes, email newsletters and media interviews.

Because of this platform, farmers knew to carefully examine the upper whorl of corn as well as tassels for aphids. If the corn aphids were present in elevated numbers, or if 50% of plants had aphid colonies (defined as 50 to 100 aphids before R1 or during pollination), they could consider an application of an insecticide, sometimes along with a fungicide application. After pollination, we shared, no treatment was recommended.

In 2025, the Crop Report will continue with growing season updates and contributor reports featured on all Field Advisor channels. Farmers growing corn, soybeans and wheat can get crop progress updates and stay alert to the latest disease and pest threats.

To subscribe for updates about issues in your area, simply go to www.FieldAdvisor.org. You can also follow along via the Field Advisor podcast on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@ FieldAdvisor_ILSoybean.

University Research

For many years, Illinois soybean farmers’ checkoff dollars have funded research conducted by university partners. And since fiscal year 2023, ISA has doubled down on its efforts to get those insights and research results out to farmers on an ongoing basis.

On the recently developed Research Hub at www.FieldAdvisor.org, each funded project has its own page with details about what questions the project will address as well as more information about participating researchers.

Project updates and data are shared on the Field Advisor blog and the individual project pages. Field Advisor also hosts monthly webinars during which researchers share findings and provide guidance to farmers.

Additionally, the data from these projects were highlighted at the first-ever Field Advisor Forum at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Jan. 16. These recordings are available to view on the Field Advisor YouTube channel.

Weed management often ranks as one of Illinois soybean farmers’ top concerns in the ISA Agronomy Team’s annual Soybean Production Concerns Survey. Photo Credit: Illinois Soybean Association Checkoff

What Agronomic Partnerships Mean for Farmers

Collaborating with outside researchers and organizations brings several benefits to Illinois soybean farmers. It allows us to combine different skill sets and opportunities to effectively communicate agronomic research and on-farm data.

Sometimes, that involves hands-on work from our Agronomy Team to make sure farmers can receive the information via multiple channels. At other times, we take more of a supportive role to make sure our partners can do the jobs at which they excel.

These initiatives also are complementary in ways that will benefit Illinois soybean farmers. For example, in the future we envision testing university researchers’ recommendations by leveraging the farms enrolled in the OFTN across the state. This could lead to more improved, specific and practical recommendations for farmers to enact on their fields and in their businesses.

We recognize that every farmer has unique needs and situations. We want to ensure that we are providing a variety of information so farmers can find what will be most helpful to them.

Look Ahead, Give Input

All of this agronomic activity will be on full display at the 2025 Farm Progress Show from Aug. 26-28 in Decatur. There, ISA will provide access to its demonstration plots plus lots of information about many of these projects. You’ll find our site in the southwest corner of the show near the Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District office site. We look forward to connecting with many soybean growers there.

I’ll close with a final opportunity: At ISA, we’re always looking for ways to make sure our research reflects your priorities. I encourage you to fill out the Soybean Production Concerns Survey. You can take the survey at https://bit.ly/FY26GrowingConcerns.

Together, we can work to become better informed about the unique agronomic needs of Illinois soybean farms in all their amazing variety—and better equipped to grow a crop that’s No. 1 in the nation.

Results and updates about ISA checkoff-funded research are shared on the Research Hub at www.FieldAdvisor.org. Photo Credit: Illinois Soybean Association Checkoff