July 10, 2025 • 23 mins
Photosynthesis and the Soybean
- Steve Long, Crop Scientist - University of Illinois
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Todd Gleason (00:00):
From the Land Grant University in Urbana
(00:02):
Champaign, Illinois, this is theclosing market report. I'm
extensions Todd Gleason out ofthe office this afternoon. So no
update of the commodity markets.However, we will hear about some
important research that has beentaking place for decades here on
the Urbana Champaign campus ofthe University of Illinois.
Steve Long, who is now anemeritus professor of crop
(00:25):
sciences in the College ofAgricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences,discusses photosynthesis and
plants and the kinds of thingsthat he's been doing with it to
try to improve how well a plantcan take advantage of the energy
from the sun.
That's all coming up on thisedition of the closing market
(00:46):
report from Illinois. Publicmedia is public radio with the
farming world online on demandat willag.org. Todd Gleason
services are made available toWILL by University of Illinois
Extension. Realizing increasedphotosynthetic efficiency or
RIPE is an internationalresearch project that is
(01:09):
engineering crops to be moreproductive by improving
photosynthesis, the naturalprocess all plants use to
convert sunlight into energy andyields, and it is hopeful that
by equipping farmers with higheryielding crops, it can ensure
everyone has access to enoughfood to lead a healthy
productive life. Steve Long wasthe director of the Ripe Lab
(01:31):
here on the University ofIllinois Urbana Champaign campus
from its inception in 2012 untilhis retirement in December.
Here's how he explains theimportance of photosynthesis.
Steve Long (01:47):
It's a 100% important because photosynthesis
is directly or indirectly thesource of all of our food. And,
of course, it's also the sourceof the oxygen we breathe. It's
the process which drives all ofour ecosystems, both marine and
(02:07):
terrestrial and land.
Todd Gleason (02:09):
That would put it right at the base of the food
chain in that case. Exactly. Howcomplicated is the process?
Steve Long (02:16):
It is a complex process. It involves over a 100
steps. So there are more than a100 proteins involved, and those
are coded for by well over a 100genes. So this does make it far
more complicated than most plantprocesses we're trying to
(02:37):
improve.
Todd Gleason (02:38):
And how has the Ripe Lab here on the Urbana
Champaign campus of theUniversity of Illinois used its
technology to try to improvephotosynthesis.
Steve Long (02:49):
Well, photosynthesis is the most studied of all plant
processes. So although there areover a 100 steps, we do know all
of those steps. We havecharacterized the proteins, how
they work, etcetera. And at thebeginning of the century, we now
(03:11):
had enough information that wecould create a digital twin of
the process. And that allowed usto treat this rather like a car
production line.
You know, if the plant isinvesting a certain amount of
protein into photosynthesis,where should that be distributed
along the production line? Andby creating that digital twin,
(03:38):
we could then say, well, whereshould resource be placed on the
production line? And how doesthat compare to what the plant
is actually doing? That enablesto pick up points where we
needed to make changes.
Todd Gleason (03:53):
Does that mean you can use the computer models, the
simulated plant to changeprocesses to see how it changes
production?
Steve Long (04:02):
Exactly. The the advantage of the the digital
twin is that we could workthrough millions of com
combinations, whichexperimentally would take years.
Todd Gleason (04:16):
Once you began down that path, were you able to
identify the kinds ofinefficiencies you might be able
to improve in the plant?
Steve Long (04:25):
Yes. One that, you know, we've we've worked on
successfully is one of the firstthings it showed is an enzyme in
photosynthesis. We call it c dheptulose bisphosphatase. The
digital twin said, under optimumconditions, there should be
seven times more of this proteinthan the plant has. And that,
(04:51):
tweaked our curiosity.
And a colleague of mine inEngland had worked on this
protein, and so shetransgenically upregulated the
amounts of the protein and gotbigger plants. We then tested
those in the field here inIllinois, and indeed, we got
more productive plants. We alsogot curious as to, well, why
(05:17):
hadn't evolution or breederselection already done this? And
somebody pointed out to us,well, these plants would have
evolved in a carbon dioxideconcentration well below
today's. So we ran the modelagain at that past carbon
dioxide concentration andincreasing the enzyme there had
(05:40):
no effect.
But if we looked at futurecarbon dioxide concentrations,
you know, the higher level weexpect from mid century, then it
suggested the advantage ofupregulating this protein is
even bigger. And at Illinois, wehave a field facility, where we
(06:01):
grow plants in the field underfuture carbon dioxide
concentrations. So we put thoseplants in there, and indeed,
they responded even morestrongly to that future carbon
dioxide concentration. So thatkind of gave us faith in what
the model was telling us.
Todd Gleason (06:19):
That's the soy face farm on South Campus. It's
an actual plot of land wherecarbon dioxide and ozone levels
are controlled so that they arehigher and represent what might
happen in the future. What kindof growth rate change did it
cause?
Steve Long (06:36):
About 15%.
Todd Gleason (06:39):
Was that in size or yield?
Steve Long (06:42):
Both. It grows faster and it ends up being
about 15% bigger, and we get ahigher yield with that.
Todd Gleason (06:50):
Did it change the nutritional quality of the
soybean?
Steve Long (06:54):
Yeah. That is a a good question. We, in this case
with soybean, the nutritionalquality didn't change. But, for
example, other groups have triedthings like this in rice, and
indeed the protein content doesgo down. However, I would point
(07:16):
out that if you look at thegermplasm that's available to
breeders, we can find, you know,double the amount of protein,
for example, in within thegermplasm.
So if quality did go down,breeders have material where
they could adjust this.
Todd Gleason (07:36):
Germplasm, that's a term we should probably define
here on campus. It's used oftenand in breeding programs across
the planet. What is germplasmexactly?
Steve Long (07:48):
Oh, sorry. Germplasm is for example, breeders of
crops like wheat will havethousands of different genetic
forms, and they call on thoseto, for example, alter the
quality of the grain, diseaseresistance, pest resistance,
(08:11):
etcetera. So their collections,for example, of wheat from all
over the world that have beencharacterized, and they can then
use those in their breedingprograms.
Todd Gleason (08:22):
So your lab has found at least one way to
improve photosyntheticefficiency. Has it been looking
for other possibilities, andhave you been able to find
different pathways to improvephotosynthesis?
Steve Long (08:36):
In in the process of photosynthesis, we've identified
several proteins that would needto be increased, for example, to
make photosynthesis moreefficient. So for example, one
of the things we looked at iswhen a crop is growing in the
(08:58):
field, leaves are going in andout of sunlight all the time as
the sun crosses the sky, cloudscross the sun, other leaves
shade other leaves. And when aleaf goes into the shade, it
takes a while to adjust thatshade condition. And so we
(09:21):
identified proteins that if weincrease them, would speed up
that adjustment to shade. And,again, that made about a 20%
improvement in the productivity.
Todd Gleason (09:34):
If you were to successfully able to combine all
of these and to locate more, howmuch of an improvement in
photosynthesis do you thinkmight be possible?
Steve Long (09:45):
We think we could make it between 50 and a 100%
more efficient.
Todd Gleason (09:51):
That's extraordinary. What kind of
impact would that have on foodproduction across the planet?
Steve Long (09:57):
Well, it obviously would make a huge dent in it
and, you know, would allow us toproduce enough food for the
future on the land we're alreadythat's already in cultivation.
But much of what we've done istransgenic. I, you know, we've
(10:17):
added extra copies of genes.We've brought in foreign genes
and there is a long deregulatoryprocess for anything that has
been genetically modified inthat way. And, of course, most
European countries don't evenaccept transgenic crops.
So that is quite a barrier.However, one new innovation is
(10:42):
what we call gene editing wherewe might be able to get that
upregulation of the native geneby mutating the DNA in front of
that gene. And at least mostnorth most countries in The
Americas are accepting that asnontransgenic because it could
(11:05):
be achieved by mutation. Andthat might allow us to get some
of these changes into the seedsystem more rapidly.
Todd Gleason (11:15):
By mutation, you mean that they could occur in
nature naturally. What might youneed to do in order to push this
along and to get plants into thehands of farmers?
Steve Long (11:28):
Well, for example, in the case of that, you know,
one enzyme I told you about, c dheptulose bisphosphatase, what
we're now looking at is thepiece of DNA in front of that
which controls the amount ofprotein that's produced. And
we're finding changes we canmake there to do this, and we're
(11:52):
starting to do that with otherchanges we've identified as
well. And that should speed upthe process. But, of course, you
know, getting it at scalerequires breeding it into local
cultivars, producing enough seedthat can then be commercially
(12:15):
marketed. So it it isn't a rapidprocess, but, you know, in best
of conditions, you could getthese things out in maybe
fifteen to twenty years.
Todd Gleason (12:28):
Quick point of clarification. You're not adding
exactly extra genes to theplant. You're just searching for
that point where you can turnthem on or off, and that makes
the difference.
Steve Long (12:41):
Exactly. Yes. Tweaking the DNA in front of the
gene.
Todd Gleason (12:45):
Steve Long is an emeritus crop scientist from the
University of Illinois. He wasthe director of the RIPE or
Realizing IncreasedPhotosynthetic Efficiency Lab
here on campus from itsinception in 2012 until his
retirement in December. We'retalking with him about ways to
(13:06):
improve photosynthesis, in thesoybean and how that's been done
over the last decade and a half.We'll have more from him in just
a moment. You're listening tothe closing market report from
Illinois public media.
It is public radio for thefarming world online on demand
anytime you'd like to hear us.You can go to willag.org,
(13:27):
willag.0rg, where right now,today, you will find a link in
the calendar to register forTuesdays, July fifteenth webinar
by the FarmDoc team that takes alook at the one big beautiful
bill act and the changes itmakes to commodity programs like
(13:49):
ARKIN PLC and to crop insurance.You'll want to be sure to get
yourself registered for that.It's from noon to one on
Tuesday, July 15. Registrationis available on the PharmDoc
Daily website or at willag.org.
Look for that registration inthe calendar of events on July
(14:09):
15. Now let's hear more fromSteve Long and this conversation
we've been having about theability to increase yield of
soybean by increasingphotosynthesis. We had been
(14:34):
talking about the modificationgenes within these plants and
how sometimes it's transgenicand sometimes it can be done in
a way that is more acceptablethat might have happened as a
mutation in nature. We did askhim if he thought that
transgenics would ever becomewidely accepted across the
(14:58):
planet.
Steve Long (14:58):
I'm not sure. Yeah. Of course, the area of most
concern really are the poorestcountries in the world. And
we've been working with theGates Foundation and Australian
scientists that have start theystarted work with the Nigerian
(15:22):
government on getting atransgenic crop into Nigeria.
So, basically, helping theNigerian government have
regulations equal to those ofAustralia, United States,
etcetera, testing grounds inNigeria.
And that has resulted in acowpea, well, cowpea cultivars,
(15:50):
which are insect resistant, andthey've become very popular with
farmers there becausesmallholder farmers could lose
their entire crop to theseinsects. So they're now very
interested on adding ourinnovations on on top of that.
And now Ghana has also acceptedthe same regulations that
(16:14):
Nigeria is using. And these arethe countries where we really
need to be increasing foodproduction because they're
already short of food. And so,you know, this is, I think, very
important step forward.
Todd Gleason (16:32):
Cowpea is a staple food crop in some of these
nations, meaning that it isdirectly consumed by human
beings. Do you think there istime for some of these
innovations to actually be putinto place?
Steve Long (16:46):
I think there is time, as long as we see more
acceptance of modified crops.And I think particularly this so
called gene editing, which, youknow, is equivalent really in
mutation breeding, which hasbeen around and accepted for
fifty years, but is just a muchmore precise form of that, is
(17:10):
very likely to speed up theprocess. I mean, it already is
in The Americas.
Todd Gleason (17:17):
Can I come back to a point about the efficiencies
you've been able to achieve oryou think that are achievable
related to the gene manipulationthat you've been doing on campus
at RIPE? How much more efficientreally is the crop and in what
way?
Steve Long (17:38):
It's well, strictly, it's more energy efficient. So,
you know, our, you know, goodcrops convert about 1% of the
sunlight energy they receiveinto their biomass. Now looking
(18:01):
at the theory, they should bephotosynthesis should be about
between 4.56% efficient. So thattells us there's a lot of
headroom there, and that's whatwe're kind of exploiting.
Todd Gleason (18:16):
Practically, what difference might a farmer or
producer in the field see asit's related to, for instance, a
soybean plant that is improvedin this photosynthetic
efficiency way.
Steve Long (18:30):
They're obviously gonna grow bigger and they're
gonna have a high yield. So sofar, of course, when I say a
high yield, you know, we've beendoing single manipulations which
have given us 15 or 20% more.And with modern soybean
(18:50):
cultivars, with morephotosynthesis, they can put
that into the grain. Now what wedon't know is if we've got 50%
more, can they put that into thegrain? We know, for example, the
older cultivars, you know, fromfifty years ago, when we boost
their photosynthesis, they don'tshow as such a big increase in
(19:15):
the grain.
So we think breeders havesteadily improved the capacity
of soybean, for example, to makeuse of more photosynthesis. Say,
a good year, they get goodyields from that. And
Todd Gleason (19:33):
it's gonna be important to work with breeders
to make sure that the capacityof grain formation keeps up with
increased photosynthesis. Justto put things in context, you're
telling me that the plant isgenerally about 1% efficient in
photosynthesis. Yes. And thatyou have pushed that to 1.5%.
(19:54):
Could you go further?
We think we could probably getto 2%
Steve Long (20:00):
with some of the bigger innovations that are
coming along. I mean, I would,of course, point out that, you
know, when talking aboutefficiency, remember that, you
know, it's often compared withsolar cells, which, of course,
can be 20% efficient. But keepin mind that the plant is not
(20:23):
only doing the photosynthesis,if you like, it's making and
maintaining its own solar cells.And then it's not just producing
carbohydrates, it's producingprotein, oil, vitamins, you
know, many phytochemicals, youknow, which are highly valued in
(20:43):
nutrition. So, you know, toreplicate that, you know, would
inquire quite an industrialcomplex.
Todd Gleason (20:53):
How far do you think this could be pushed? One,
one and a half, 2%? How muchfurther?
Steve Long (21:01):
I think well, in the long term, I think we could get
even further than 2%, you know,which could lead to a doubling
of food production on the lambwe're already using. And and
we've also identified changesthat make the crop more tolerant
(21:22):
of higher temperatures
Todd Gleason (21:24):
as well. So and also make the crop more water
use efficient, you know, whichis another major worry going
forward. Will we have enoughwater for our crops? That was
Steve Long, an emeritusprofessor of crop sciences here
on the Urbana Champaign campusof the University of Illinois.
Recorded last December, justabout the time that he was to
(21:48):
retire.
He served as the first directorof the Ripe Lab that looks at
photosynthetic efficiencies inplants, in this case
particularly in the soybean.You've been listening to the
closing market report fromIllinois public media it is
public radio for the farmingworld online on demand anytime
you'd like to hear it atwillag.org or search out the
(22:10):
closing market report in yourfavorite podcast applications at
that website willag.org if youscroll down you'll also find on
next Tuesday's date the July 15a webinar that I will emcee for
the PharmDoc team related to thejust passed One Big Beautiful
(22:31):
Bill Act that changes farmpolicy across the nation,
particularly the commodityprograms like ARC and PLC and
crop insurance producers andlandowners and others will want
to know about these changes andhow they may impact bottom lines
and marketing programs you canlearn that again next Tuesday
(22:52):
from noon to 01:00 the farm docteam will host a webinar you'll
need to register you can do thaton our website at wilag.org.
Look for that webinar in ourcalendar of events. I'm
University of IllinoisExtension's Todd Gleason.
From the Land Grant University in Urbana
(00:02):
Champaign, Illinois, this is theclosing market report. I'm
extensions Todd Gleason out ofthe office this afternoon. So no
update of the commodity markets.However, we will hear about some
important research that has beentaking place for decades here on
the Urbana Champaign campus ofthe University of Illinois.
Steve Long, who is now anemeritus professor of crop
(00:25):
sciences in the College ofAgricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences,discusses photosynthesis and
plants and the kinds of thingsthat he's been doing with it to
try to improve how well a plantcan take advantage of the energy
from the sun.
That's all coming up on thisedition of the closing market
(00:46):
report from Illinois. Publicmedia is public radio with the
farming world online on demandat willag.org. Todd Gleason
services are made available toWILL by University of Illinois
Extension. Realizing increasedphotosynthetic efficiency or
RIPE is an internationalresearch project that is
(01:09):
engineering crops to be moreproductive by improving
photosynthesis, the naturalprocess all plants use to
convert sunlight into energy andyields, and it is hopeful that
by equipping farmers with higheryielding crops, it can ensure
everyone has access to enoughfood to lead a healthy
productive life. Steve Long wasthe director of the Ripe Lab
(01:31):
here on the University ofIllinois Urbana Champaign campus
from its inception in 2012 untilhis retirement in December.
Here's how he explains theimportance of photosynthesis.
Steve Long (01:47):
It's a 100% important because photosynthesis
is directly or indirectly thesource of all of our food. And,
of course, it's also the sourceof the oxygen we breathe. It's
the process which drives all ofour ecosystems, both marine and
(02:07):
terrestrial and land.
Todd Gleason (02:09):
That would put it right at the base of the food
chain in that case. Exactly. Howcomplicated is the process?
Steve Long (02:16):
It is a complex process. It involves over a 100
steps. So there are more than a100 proteins involved, and those
are coded for by well over a 100genes. So this does make it far
more complicated than most plantprocesses we're trying to
(02:37):
improve.
Todd Gleason (02:38):
And how has the Ripe Lab here on the Urbana
Champaign campus of theUniversity of Illinois used its
technology to try to improvephotosynthesis.
Steve Long (02:49):
Well, photosynthesis is the most studied of all plant
processes. So although there areover a 100 steps, we do know all
of those steps. We havecharacterized the proteins, how
they work, etcetera. And at thebeginning of the century, we now
(03:11):
had enough information that wecould create a digital twin of
the process. And that allowed usto treat this rather like a car
production line.
You know, if the plant isinvesting a certain amount of
protein into photosynthesis,where should that be distributed
along the production line? Andby creating that digital twin,
(03:38):
we could then say, well, whereshould resource be placed on the
production line? And how doesthat compare to what the plant
is actually doing? That enablesto pick up points where we
needed to make changes.
Todd Gleason (03:53):
Does that mean you can use the computer models, the
simulated plant to changeprocesses to see how it changes
production?
Steve Long (04:02):
Exactly. The the advantage of the the digital
twin is that we could workthrough millions of com
combinations, whichexperimentally would take years.
Todd Gleason (04:16):
Once you began down that path, were you able to
identify the kinds ofinefficiencies you might be able
to improve in the plant?
Steve Long (04:25):
Yes. One that, you know, we've we've worked on
successfully is one of the firstthings it showed is an enzyme in
photosynthesis. We call it c dheptulose bisphosphatase. The
digital twin said, under optimumconditions, there should be
seven times more of this proteinthan the plant has. And that,
(04:51):
tweaked our curiosity.
And a colleague of mine inEngland had worked on this
protein, and so shetransgenically upregulated the
amounts of the protein and gotbigger plants. We then tested
those in the field here inIllinois, and indeed, we got
more productive plants. We alsogot curious as to, well, why
(05:17):
hadn't evolution or breederselection already done this? And
somebody pointed out to us,well, these plants would have
evolved in a carbon dioxideconcentration well below
today's. So we ran the modelagain at that past carbon
dioxide concentration andincreasing the enzyme there had
(05:40):
no effect.
But if we looked at futurecarbon dioxide concentrations,
you know, the higher level weexpect from mid century, then it
suggested the advantage ofupregulating this protein is
even bigger. And at Illinois, wehave a field facility, where we
(06:01):
grow plants in the field underfuture carbon dioxide
concentrations. So we put thoseplants in there, and indeed,
they responded even morestrongly to that future carbon
dioxide concentration. So thatkind of gave us faith in what
the model was telling us.
Todd Gleason (06:19):
That's the soy face farm on South Campus. It's
an actual plot of land wherecarbon dioxide and ozone levels
are controlled so that they arehigher and represent what might
happen in the future. What kindof growth rate change did it
cause?
Steve Long (06:36):
About 15%.
Todd Gleason (06:39):
Was that in size or yield?
Steve Long (06:42):
Both. It grows faster and it ends up being
about 15% bigger, and we get ahigher yield with that.
Todd Gleason (06:50):
Did it change the nutritional quality of the
soybean?
Steve Long (06:54):
Yeah. That is a a good question. We, in this case
with soybean, the nutritionalquality didn't change. But, for
example, other groups have triedthings like this in rice, and
indeed the protein content doesgo down. However, I would point
(07:16):
out that if you look at thegermplasm that's available to
breeders, we can find, you know,double the amount of protein,
for example, in within thegermplasm.
So if quality did go down,breeders have material where
they could adjust this.
Todd Gleason (07:36):
Germplasm, that's a term we should probably define
here on campus. It's used oftenand in breeding programs across
the planet. What is germplasmexactly?
Steve Long (07:48):
Oh, sorry. Germplasm is for example, breeders of
crops like wheat will havethousands of different genetic
forms, and they call on thoseto, for example, alter the
quality of the grain, diseaseresistance, pest resistance,
(08:11):
etcetera. So their collections,for example, of wheat from all
over the world that have beencharacterized, and they can then
use those in their breedingprograms.
Todd Gleason (08:22):
So your lab has found at least one way to
improve photosyntheticefficiency. Has it been looking
for other possibilities, andhave you been able to find
different pathways to improvephotosynthesis?
Steve Long (08:36):
In in the process of photosynthesis, we've identified
several proteins that would needto be increased, for example, to
make photosynthesis moreefficient. So for example, one
of the things we looked at iswhen a crop is growing in the
(08:58):
field, leaves are going in andout of sunlight all the time as
the sun crosses the sky, cloudscross the sun, other leaves
shade other leaves. And when aleaf goes into the shade, it
takes a while to adjust thatshade condition. And so we
(09:21):
identified proteins that if weincrease them, would speed up
that adjustment to shade. And,again, that made about a 20%
improvement in the productivity.
Todd Gleason (09:34):
If you were to successfully able to combine all
of these and to locate more, howmuch of an improvement in
photosynthesis do you thinkmight be possible?
Steve Long (09:45):
We think we could make it between 50 and a 100%
more efficient.
Todd Gleason (09:51):
That's extraordinary. What kind of
impact would that have on foodproduction across the planet?
Steve Long (09:57):
Well, it obviously would make a huge dent in it
and, you know, would allow us toproduce enough food for the
future on the land we're alreadythat's already in cultivation.
But much of what we've done istransgenic. I, you know, we've
(10:17):
added extra copies of genes.We've brought in foreign genes
and there is a long deregulatoryprocess for anything that has
been genetically modified inthat way. And, of course, most
European countries don't evenaccept transgenic crops.
So that is quite a barrier.However, one new innovation is
(10:42):
what we call gene editing wherewe might be able to get that
upregulation of the native geneby mutating the DNA in front of
that gene. And at least mostnorth most countries in The
Americas are accepting that asnontransgenic because it could
(11:05):
be achieved by mutation. Andthat might allow us to get some
of these changes into the seedsystem more rapidly.
Todd Gleason (11:15):
By mutation, you mean that they could occur in
nature naturally. What might youneed to do in order to push this
along and to get plants into thehands of farmers?
Steve Long (11:28):
Well, for example, in the case of that, you know,
one enzyme I told you about, c dheptulose bisphosphatase, what
we're now looking at is thepiece of DNA in front of that
which controls the amount ofprotein that's produced. And
we're finding changes we canmake there to do this, and we're
(11:52):
starting to do that with otherchanges we've identified as
well. And that should speed upthe process. But, of course, you
know, getting it at scalerequires breeding it into local
cultivars, producing enough seedthat can then be commercially
(12:15):
marketed. So it it isn't a rapidprocess, but, you know, in best
of conditions, you could getthese things out in maybe
fifteen to twenty years.
Todd Gleason (12:28):
Quick point of clarification. You're not adding
exactly extra genes to theplant. You're just searching for
that point where you can turnthem on or off, and that makes
the difference.
Steve Long (12:41):
Exactly. Yes. Tweaking the DNA in front of the
gene.
Todd Gleason (12:45):
Steve Long is an emeritus crop scientist from the
University of Illinois. He wasthe director of the RIPE or
Realizing IncreasedPhotosynthetic Efficiency Lab
here on campus from itsinception in 2012 until his
retirement in December. We'retalking with him about ways to
(13:06):
improve photosynthesis, in thesoybean and how that's been done
over the last decade and a half.We'll have more from him in just
a moment. You're listening tothe closing market report from
Illinois public media.
It is public radio for thefarming world online on demand
anytime you'd like to hear us.You can go to willag.org,
(13:27):
willag.0rg, where right now,today, you will find a link in
the calendar to register forTuesdays, July fifteenth webinar
by the FarmDoc team that takes alook at the one big beautiful
bill act and the changes itmakes to commodity programs like
(13:49):
ARKIN PLC and to crop insurance.You'll want to be sure to get
yourself registered for that.It's from noon to one on
Tuesday, July 15. Registrationis available on the PharmDoc
Daily website or at willag.org.
Look for that registration inthe calendar of events on July
(14:09):
15. Now let's hear more fromSteve Long and this conversation
we've been having about theability to increase yield of
soybean by increasingphotosynthesis. We had been
(14:34):
talking about the modificationgenes within these plants and
how sometimes it's transgenicand sometimes it can be done in
a way that is more acceptablethat might have happened as a
mutation in nature. We did askhim if he thought that
transgenics would ever becomewidely accepted across the
(14:58):
planet.
Steve Long (14:58):
I'm not sure. Yeah. Of course, the area of most
concern really are the poorestcountries in the world. And
we've been working with theGates Foundation and Australian
scientists that have start theystarted work with the Nigerian
(15:22):
government on getting atransgenic crop into Nigeria.
So, basically, helping theNigerian government have
regulations equal to those ofAustralia, United States,
etcetera, testing grounds inNigeria.
And that has resulted in acowpea, well, cowpea cultivars,
(15:50):
which are insect resistant, andthey've become very popular with
farmers there becausesmallholder farmers could lose
their entire crop to theseinsects. So they're now very
interested on adding ourinnovations on on top of that.
And now Ghana has also acceptedthe same regulations that
(16:14):
Nigeria is using. And these arethe countries where we really
need to be increasing foodproduction because they're
already short of food. And so,you know, this is, I think, very
important step forward.
Todd Gleason (16:32):
Cowpea is a staple food crop in some of these
nations, meaning that it isdirectly consumed by human
beings. Do you think there istime for some of these
innovations to actually be putinto place?
Steve Long (16:46):
I think there is time, as long as we see more
acceptance of modified crops.And I think particularly this so
called gene editing, which, youknow, is equivalent really in
mutation breeding, which hasbeen around and accepted for
fifty years, but is just a muchmore precise form of that, is
(17:10):
very likely to speed up theprocess. I mean, it already is
in The Americas.
Todd Gleason (17:17):
Can I come back to a point about the efficiencies
you've been able to achieve oryou think that are achievable
related to the gene manipulationthat you've been doing on campus
at RIPE? How much more efficientreally is the crop and in what
way?
Steve Long (17:38):
It's well, strictly, it's more energy efficient. So,
you know, our, you know, goodcrops convert about 1% of the
sunlight energy they receiveinto their biomass. Now looking
(18:01):
at the theory, they should bephotosynthesis should be about
between 4.56% efficient. So thattells us there's a lot of
headroom there, and that's whatwe're kind of exploiting.
Todd Gleason (18:16):
Practically, what difference might a farmer or
producer in the field see asit's related to, for instance, a
soybean plant that is improvedin this photosynthetic
efficiency way.
Steve Long (18:30):
They're obviously gonna grow bigger and they're
gonna have a high yield. So sofar, of course, when I say a
high yield, you know, we've beendoing single manipulations which
have given us 15 or 20% more.And with modern soybean
(18:50):
cultivars, with morephotosynthesis, they can put
that into the grain. Now what wedon't know is if we've got 50%
more, can they put that into thegrain? We know, for example, the
older cultivars, you know, fromfifty years ago, when we boost
their photosynthesis, they don'tshow as such a big increase in
(19:15):
the grain.
So we think breeders havesteadily improved the capacity
of soybean, for example, to makeuse of more photosynthesis. Say,
a good year, they get goodyields from that. And
Todd Gleason (19:33):
it's gonna be important to work with breeders
to make sure that the capacityof grain formation keeps up with
increased photosynthesis. Justto put things in context, you're
telling me that the plant isgenerally about 1% efficient in
photosynthesis. Yes. And thatyou have pushed that to 1.5%.
(19:54):
Could you go further?
We think we could probably getto 2%
Steve Long (20:00):
with some of the bigger innovations that are
coming along. I mean, I would,of course, point out that, you
know, when talking aboutefficiency, remember that, you
know, it's often compared withsolar cells, which, of course,
can be 20% efficient. But keepin mind that the plant is not
(20:23):
only doing the photosynthesis,if you like, it's making and
maintaining its own solar cells.And then it's not just producing
carbohydrates, it's producingprotein, oil, vitamins, you
know, many phytochemicals, youknow, which are highly valued in
(20:43):
nutrition. So, you know, toreplicate that, you know, would
inquire quite an industrialcomplex.
Todd Gleason (20:53):
How far do you think this could be pushed? One,
one and a half, 2%? How muchfurther?
Steve Long (21:01):
I think well, in the long term, I think we could get
even further than 2%, you know,which could lead to a doubling
of food production on the lambwe're already using. And and
we've also identified changesthat make the crop more tolerant
(21:22):
of higher temperatures
Todd Gleason (21:24):
as well. So and also make the crop more water
use efficient, you know, whichis another major worry going
forward. Will we have enoughwater for our crops? That was
Steve Long, an emeritusprofessor of crop sciences here
on the Urbana Champaign campusof the University of Illinois.
Recorded last December, justabout the time that he was to
(21:48):
retire.
He served as the first directorof the Ripe Lab that looks at
photosynthetic efficiencies inplants, in this case
particularly in the soybean.You've been listening to the
closing market report fromIllinois public media it is
public radio for the farmingworld online on demand anytime
you'd like to hear it atwillag.org or search out the
(22:10):
closing market report in yourfavorite podcast applications at
that website willag.org if youscroll down you'll also find on
next Tuesday's date the July 15a webinar that I will emcee for
the PharmDoc team related to thejust passed One Big Beautiful
(22:31):
Bill Act that changes farmpolicy across the nation,
particularly the commodityprograms like ARC and PLC and
crop insurance producers andlandowners and others will want
to know about these changes andhow they may impact bottom lines
and marketing programs you canlearn that again next Tuesday
(22:52):
from noon to 01:00 the farm docteam will host a webinar you'll
need to register you can do thaton our website at wilag.org.
Look for that webinar in ourcalendar of events. I'm
University of IllinoisExtension's Todd Gleason.
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