Inari is newest Soybean Research Center partner

AMES — The Iowa Soybean Research Center at Iowa State University recently welcomed Inari as its newest industry partner.

A representative from the company will serve on the ISRC’s industry advisory council, which provides guidance on research needs and funding priorities for the center.

“Like the ISRC, Inari is deeply committed to bringing impactful innovation to soybean production, combining AI-enabled predictive design and a leading multiplex gene editing toolbox to significantly increase yields. We look forward to working together to deliver step-change solutions,” said Juan Mayta, director of product management at Inari.

“We are pleased to welcome Inari as a partner to the ISRC, and we are excited for the perspective they will bring to support innovative research projects that will help to continue to improve soybean production into the future,” said Steve Whitham, co-director of the ISRC and professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology at Iowa State.

“Inari is a great addition to the Iowa Soybean Research Center and will be a great partner to Iowa farmers. The expertise in genetic science will improve our organization and the projects that are funded to provide value to Iowa farmers next year and the years to come,” said Joe McClure, chief officer, Research Center for Farming Innovation for the Iowa Soybean Association and chair of the ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council.

As one of the ISRC’s industry partners, Inari will provide financial support to the center, which will be leveraged with soybean checkoff funds from the Iowa Soybean Association to support soybean research at the university.

The center is a formal collaboration of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Iowa Soybean Association and industry partners. Together, representatives from ISA and the industry make up the ISRC’s Industry Advisory Council. Inari is the center’s latest industry partner, joining Ag Ingenuity Partners, AMVAC, BASF, Bayer, Beck’s, BioConnect Iowa, Corteva Agriscience, GDM, Indigo Ag, Innvictis/Simplot, Meristem Crop Performance, Merschman Seeds, Nutrien, Peterson Genetics, Syngenta, Tidal Grow and Valent.

Inari is the SEEDesign company, using new breeding technology to deliver step-change performance through high-impact seed designs. A combination of AI-enabled predictive design and a cutting-edge multiplex gene editing toolbox enables Inari to unlock the full potential of seed and advance critical solutions with broad applications for growing more food with fewer resources – providing real benefits to farmers, the planet and the global population.

Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, Inari operates sites in Cambridge, Massachusetts, West Lafayette, Indiana and Ghent, Belgium.

The Iowa Soybean Research Center was established in 2014 by Iowa State University in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association. The center was founded to increase soybean production and profitability for Iowa farmers through coordinated research efforts involving Iowa State, the Iowa Soybean Association and the private sector.

More information on becoming an industry partner of the Iowa Soybean Research Center is available at iowasoybeancenter.org or by emailing the center at ISRC@iastate.edu.