Gathering together great soybean minds that include professors, undergrads, growers and industry representatives, North Dakota State University (NDSU) hosted its annual Soybean Symposium on March 5 on campus at the Memorial Union in Fargo, N.D.
The symposium features topics covering agronomy, breeding and new uses research, strategically connecting opportunities for exchanging ideas and networking among many of the top researchers in the soybean industry.
“The Soybean Symposium is an initiative that started six years ago and has been growing enormously, but basically it’s just the idea of getting together all the people who work in soybeans to network and connect,” said Ana Carcedo, NDSU broadleaf agronomist. “It’s amazing how many incredible things can come up when you have the time to talk to others who work in the same field. We’re all a big soybean family.”
Along with keynote speakers and research presentations, the symposium offers the opportunity for graduate students to present their soybean-related research and compete for a cash prize. The students compete via a poster presentation or with a two-minute, lightning round oral presentation giving a summary of their research. Thanks to travel scholarships, competitions were able to expand to students beyond NDSU this year, including the University of Minnesota, Southwest Minnesota State University and South Dakota State University.
The Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council and the soy checkoff provided four scholarships to students enrolled in Minnesota schools, including Joseph Halbur, a Ph.D. student at the University of Minnesota studying swine nutrition. Halbur showcased his research on evaluating high and low soybean meal inclusion rates in swine diets.
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