Imagine a grain system with a rat problem. You can keep patching the holes they chew, or you can remove the rats so there is no damage at all. One option requires constant maintenance. The other solves the source of the problem. That is the idea behind a new direction in soybean cyst nematode (SCN) research. Instead of only improving soybean resistance, researchers are looking for traits inside SCN that can be edited to reduce or eliminate their effect on the crop.

Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) created the Adopt-a-Researcher Project to keep farmer priorities at the center of research. Each Soybean Production Committee member is paired with a project. Committee members are then provided with all progress reports and final reports related to their adopted project. The farmers are encouraged to send questions and start discussions with the researchers related to the research being done.

The program connects checkoff-funded work to what farmers see in the field. This approach helps bridge the gap between researchers and farmers.

SCN is still the top yield robber in soybeans, and SCN research is just one of the many studies being funded by ISA. A national survey and soil tests from the SCN Coalition and university partners estimate about 93 million bushels are lost to the pest each year in the U.S. Resistance sources such as PI 88788 work, but SCN adapts quickly.

We often think of genetic editing as improving soybean plants. This work flips the focus. Researchers are identifying SCN genes that control feeding, reproduction and pest interaction with the root. Tools such as CRISPR could edit those traits so a less harmful SCN becomes the dominant trait.

If successful, farmers could one day seed fields with beneficial SCN that outcompetes harmful SCN. Possible edits include traits that keep SCN from feeding on soybeans; traits that strengthen plant resistance by finding SCN with genes that respond more strongly to plant resistance; or gene drives that create only male offspring. Only females damage soybeans, so the population would fall over time.

Regulation will matter. Editing a pest is different from editing a crop, and the process might take longer. But the result could be a more durable tool that is not tied to yearly chemistry decisions. Farmers want long-lasting solutions to yield loss. This could be one such unlock or one such pathway or one such approach.

This project shows how farmer-driven research can move new ideas forward. SCN has stolen yield for decades. New genetic tools might help us reclaim some of it.