URBANDALE, Iowa - The North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP) has elected new officers for 2007. The new NCSRP president is Jerry Wyse of Haven, Kansas. John Buck of Bloomington, Ohio, was elected vice president and the now serving as secretary/treasurer is Ed Cagney of Scotts, Michigan. The new officers were elected at the January 3 board meeting and will serve a one-year term.

“It gives me great pleasure to be chosen president of NCSRP,” says Wyse. “I’ve been a part of the Kansas Soybean Commission since being appointed in 1996 and have represented the state since 1998 when Kansas joined the 11 other states making up NCSRP. It is my strong belief that the funds entrusted to NCSRP by the member states have enabled producer checkoff monies to be leveraged in ways not possible by states alone. Major initiatives like ‘Take the Test, Beat the Pest’ and the EST research not to mention the aphids project and soybean rust projects would not have been possible without the NCSRP partnership. This coming year we will build on those initiatives with focus on the SCN/SDS complex issues, a major next step in totally mapping the soybean genome, and continuing to track and attack the advance of soybean rust. I perceive that the cooperation and collaboration of USDA, NSF, USB, NSCRP and the many, many public university talented and dedicated researchers are truly maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of soybean producer checkoff investments.”

NCSRP was established in 1992 to coordinate soybean production research efforts on a regional level. NCSRP is comprised of the state soybean checkoff boards in Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

To learn more about NCSRP, visit its Web site at www.ncsrp.com.