Research Board Gets as Much Return as Possible

Story by Don Molino

The chairman of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board, Raymond Schexnayder, says the board is trying to make certain grain farmers get the best return on their investment.

He says the board invests growers check-off funds in research projects that are making things work better as well as setting aside "anything we don't need to be doing and can get by without in a year when we're looking at lower commodity prices overall."

"Some of the work we're funding that is ongoing," says Schexnayder, "include soybean diseases because it seems every year we have pests and diseases that are dragging the yields down.

"But if everything goes right, including the weather, and we avoid the diseases we can make really good yields."

However, Schexnayder goes on to point out most years, growers will fall into some type of adverse conditions that will knock yields back.

"We (the board) are looking into diseases to see if some of it can be bred out and which genes are in the plant that make them resistant to certain diseases and can we get that into a breeding line."

(This message is a service of the Louisiana Soybean and Grain Research and Promotion Board)