Location: Crop Production and Protection
Project Number: 0500-00102-001-093-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 10, 2026
End Date: Aug 9, 2027
Objective:
The objectives of this proposal include a combination of both applied research and education or Extension activities. 1) Validation of insect overwintering models and online tool development. 2) Validation of growing season insect emergence timing models and online tool expansion. 3) Disease monitoring for multi-state forecast tools. Objectives 1-3 will be primarily performed by the University of Minnesota to contribute insect forecasting expertise to the Soybean Research Area Committee (RAC) to expand pest focus of the group to include both insect and disease forecasting. Objective 4 will contribute to the RAC’s multi-state research and other state’s NPMTI grants for validation of region-wide disease forecasts. Developing these forecasting tools can help to target or reduce pesticide use that might otherwise occur due to scheduled applications.
Approach:
This project will combine field experiments, pathogen and insect monitoring, pathogen and insect sampling, and weather-based modeling. Disease and insect risk models will be refined using multi-state datasets and validated across diverse environments. Project outcomes will include improved understanding of soybean pest epidemiology, next-generation risk assessment tools, and science-based recommendations that optimize pest management inputs, reduce yield loss, and improve profitability.