Dr. William Hunter of the USDA’s CropsResearch Laboratory and Dr. L. DavidKuykendall of the USDA’s Molecular PlantPathology Laboratory worked together todevelop a bacterial strain that is a superiorsoybean inoculum. The inoculum, also knownas Bradyrhizobium japonicum, TA-11 NOD+,increases nitrogen fixation, yield, and theamount of organic nitrogen left for non-legumecrops. This patented technology can be ofgreat help to soybean farmers in the U.S. asthey are constantly under pressure to increasecrop yield yet maintain sustainable agriculture.The increase in seed yield and quality from theinoculum comes from “natural selection”rather than genetic engineering, which makes itacceptable to both conventional and organicfarmers.The primary means of transferring thetechnology has come from an exclusivelicensing agreement with Urbana Labs. Nowproduced and sold by Urbana Labs, the “USDA Strain” has become popular and well-known among soybean farmers. With theinoculant used on almost 4.3 million acres ofland in 2001, Urbana Labs has purchased acontrolling interest in a new, ultramodernfermentor facility to meet production needs. Inthe five years it has been used, the superiorsoybean inoculum has generatedapproximately $150 million in revenue.The commercialization of this technology hasrevitalized soybean production by makingsustainable agriculture profitable. Theinoculant has put more money into farmers’pockets and increased the health of a majoreconomic segment of the agriculturalcommunity.