Discovering Tomorrow’s Biotech Traits

On today’s episode, what goes into the traits farmers can purchase with their seed? How are these traits found, developed and ultimately packaged into crop genetics?Julian Chaky who leads the trait characterization and development team at Corteva Agriscience joins us to explain how the genetic traits are found, developed and packaged into usable crops. Joining Chaky is a sixth generation farmer in Iowa, Mark Knupp, who shares how this technology impacts his production. The process of arriving on a trait and getting it to the point that it can be grown in the fields of farmers like Mark is extensive. That’s where the trait characterization and development team come in. “ It's shepherding a trait from discovery. So you have to discover a trait first, and then you need to ensure that it actually works in the plant as designed. And so what we do is we do a rigorous greenhouse and field testing to ensure that we understand how the trait actually behaves… And then the other portion that's really critical for us is to make sure…there's no yield drag, that there's no secondary effects.” - Julian ChakyTrait packages are created by companies like Corteva Agriscience to offer farmers a wide range of benefits like herbicide resistance, pest management and water utilization. The evolution and development of trait “mining” all begins with identifying the farmers' needs. Before any trait identification, characterization, and development happens there has to be a clear business case for how this technology will bring value to farmers. “ The weather patterns that are changing, we don't seem to get the normal rains anymore…We've gone through droughts the last two or three years, but we've had excellent crops. I'll put a lot of that onto the genetics.” - Mark KnuppSome takeaways from this episode: Crops are complex systems and any change is likely to have an impact on some other part of the system. Finding a trait that might help farmers is just the beginning. Developers must balance both efficacy and agronomics with each product.Developing these traits takes an incredible effort from a lot of people. Advancements in agriscience and technologies like the soybean growth chamber certainly help, but there are still many hurdles that need to be overcome to bring a novel trait to market. Collaboration is essential. Mark and Julian both provide insight into how much of a collaborative process agriscience innovation is. From identifying farmer problems, trials on Marks’ fields, or collaborating with agronomists and plant breeders, agriscience innovation is certainly a team sport. Agriscience Explained is brought to you by Corteva Agriscience and hosted by Tim Hammerich. This show is produced by Clint Pilcher, Rayda Krell and Ann Leonard. Jaime Hammerich and Grant Bolton edit these podcasts, and the music was composed by Dmitri Volkov. Subscribe for more Agriscience Explained: From Science to Solutions.