2001 Research Results

This page will be updated as new results are reported.

Prostate disease is very common among older men. Farmers, in particular, appear to be at increased risk, according to Dr. Terry Hartman. On the other hand, soy-consuming populations (Asians) have less prostate disease, smaller prostates and lower serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) than Western men.

Is there a connection? Dr. Hartman, assistant professor of nutrition at Penn State University, wants to find out.

A study by Dr. Hartman to obtain data on the effects of soy protein on factors potentially related to prostate cancer has been awarded a supporting grant of $19,972 by the Pennsylvania Soybean Promotion Board for 2001.

It is one of 10 projects to receive funding, totaling $94,264, from the board which administers the national soybean checkoff program in the Commonwealth. Under the checkoff, which was initiated in 1991, farmers contribute 50 cents on every $100 of the sale of their beans to help underwrite research, education and market development programs both at the state and national levels.

Meeting in February, the Pennsylvania board also made these checkoff fund investments:

$7,800 to Dr. Dennis Calvin, Penn State entomologist, to launch a survey of 35 soybean fields in seven counties to evaluate the presence, intensity and impact of two relatively new pests in this area — the soybean aphid and the bean leaf beetle. The survey, which is anticipated to take two years, will help determine whether these pests are common enough in Pennsylvania to justify the added costs of implementing IPM programs aimed at their control.

$21,263 to Dr. Zhiguo Wu, Penn State dairy scientist to determine if the feeding value of soybean meal and soybeans for lactating dairy cows can be enhanced by dietary supplementation with rumen-protected methionine. Despite its demonstrated nutritional value, soybean meal and soybeans combined are fed less to dairy cattle than to poultry and swine. it is estimated that only 6 percent of the soy meal used by livestock is consumed by dairy cows. At present, soy supplements in dairy rations account for between 12 and 15 percent of the diet dry matter on average; Dr. Wu believes that can be increased to 18 to 20 percent.

$8,476 to Dr. William Curran, Penn state agronomist, for the final year of a three-year study of the impact of various herbicide programs on "weed shifts" in a corn and soybean rotation. Weed shifts occur when weed management practices do not control an entire weed community or population. In 1998, Dr. Curran notes for example, the first case of herbicide resistance to Roundup was reported in Australia. Since that time, other cases of Roundup resistance have been identified. Curran told the Pennsylvania checkoff board that the research should help better predict shifts in weed species and abundance "while these is still time to develop management programs that help prevent problems."

$20,698 to Dr. Barbara Pennypacker, Penn State agronomist, to lead a wide-ranging study, expected to be completed in June 2003, into the control of white mold in soybeans. The project will look at row spacing. plant density, leaf weight and photosynthetic capacity, tolerance to salinity and other management factors.

$6,000 to Dr.O. Elwood Hatley and John Yocum of Penn State to support the 2001-2002 variety trails in plots in Lancaster and Centre counties. Varieties will be evaluated when planted after winter barley and winter wheat at the :Lancaster site.

 $2,518 to John Yocum for the second year of a two-year project evaluating the yielding ability of herbicide resistant soybeans. Thus far, Yocum reports, the average bushel-per-acre yield of the Roundup Ready soybeans has been running less than the average of the "normal" cultivars.

$2,158 to Yocum and Hatley for the final year of a three-year cover crop study. The project, entitled "Can a Cover Crop Improve Continuous Soybeans?" is aimed at determining, for example, whether cover crops can improve soil health and which cover crop, or crops, provide the best cover.

$3,221 to Yocum to evaluate whether the type of soybean plant — narrow or bushy — can overcome some of the yield reductions associated with wider rows produced by some planters.

$2,158, again to Yocum, to help determine "the correct plant population" for Pennsylvania soybean growers, particularly for new varieties. "In full season production," Yocum writes, "Pennsylvania recommends a plant population of 150,000 plants per acre regardless of row width or plant height. Results from the Pennsylvania Soybean Contest, however, indicted growers may be seeding soybeans at higher rates than recommended. This may be due to the improved lodging resistance and shorter height of the new cultivars," suggesting, Yocum adds, that the present recommendations might need to be changed.