BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – July 26, 2021 – The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) is hosting a field tour later this summer as part of the University of Illinois (U of I) Agronomy Day.
The field tour will include a demonstration of the SOYLEIC plots, used for breeding for the SOYLEIC lines, at the U of I South Farms during the Agronomy Day event on August 19.
SOYLEIC, patented by the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council, is a non-GMO, high-oleic trait available for today’s soybean varieties, which results in high oleic oil and meal.
SOYLEIC soybean varieties provide the food market with a high-value, market-driven functional soybean oil, offering a solution to recent food labeling rules set in motion by health concerns with trans fats. Federal regulations concerning trans fats have devalued commodity soybean oil and decreased or eliminated soybean oil in many food products.
Many opportunities are developing for the marketing of SOYLEIC soybean varieties in Illinois. There are vertically integrated soy processors and refiners who are marketing both high oleic soybean oil and non-GMO soybean meal products for both feed and food uses and SOYLEIC offers the potential to fully maximize supply chains for both of these needs.
Illinois also plays a significant role in the contract production of non-GMO commodity and food-grade soybeans that are exported to key Northeast and Southeast Asian markets, both regions showing increased interest in SOYLEIC soybeans for its improved oil functionality and potentially for improved benefits in the production of traditional Asian soyfoods that use whole soybeans such as tofu, tempeh and soymilk.
The U of I soybean breeding program has been developing SOYLEIC varieties since 2015 through support by the United Soybean Board (USB). Although breeding is a long-term effort and combining the four genes required for SOYLEIC soybean is a difficult task, the program is now achieving success and has developed experimental lines that combine competitive yields with the SOYLEIC trait.
Funding from ISA will be used to test SOYLEIC lines in two-row preliminary tests in four locations in Illinois and SOYLEIC lines in four-row advanced yield tests in five Illinois locations.
Lunch will be provided for attendees following the plot tour. If interested in attending the Agronomy Day events, register here.
The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) checkoff and membership programs represent more than 43,000 soybean farmers in Illinois. The checkoff funds market development and utilization efforts while the membership program supports the government relations interests of Illinois soybean farmers at the local, state, and national level, through the Illinois Soybean Growers (ISG). ISA upholds the interests of Illinois soybean producers through promotion, advocacy, and education with the vision of becoming a market leader in sustainable soybean production and profitability. For more information, visit the website www.ilsoy.org.
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For more information, contact:
Rachel Peabody
peabodyr@ilsoy.org
217-825-7654
Claire Weinzierl
weinzierlc@ilsoy.org
309-660-3444
