Soybean Yields Face Heat and Drought Threat

A $6 million NSF-funded team will study how to protect the crop, which is projected to lose up to 40% of yield over 25 years.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Botany

Wide photograph of a flat soybean field under hazy midday sun, with a small drone hovering low over the green rows. — The National Science Foundation awarded a $6 million grant to a multi-university team studying how heat and drought could cut soybean yields by up to 40% over 25 years. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The National Science Foundation has awarded a $6 million EPSCoR grant to a multi-university team studying how heat and drought affect soybeans. The research is at the study stage, with results expected over a four-year project.

Why it matters

Soybeans are the second most widely planted crop in the United States, and extreme heat and drought threaten to reduce their yields by 40% over the next 25 years. The Southeast is already disproportionately affected by the changing climate, which makes the work a near-term concern for regional crop planning.

The four-year project will compare two soybean varieties, one of which tolerates hot and dry conditions better than the other. The $6 million grant is part of a $77.8 million NSF award to 14 projects, and the 40% yield-loss figure is a projection rather than a measured result.

The players

Clemson University

A public research university whose Department of Genetics and Biochemistry hosts geneticist Shahid Mukhtar and leads the soybean project.

Shahid Mukhtar

A geneticist and professor in Clemson's Department of Genetics and Biochemistry who leads the soybean heat and drought research.

National Science Foundation

The U.S. federal agency funding basic research, which awarded the $6 million EPSCoR grant and $77.8 million across 14 projects.

Mississippi State University

A university partner in the team that is using drones and unmanned robotic vehicles to image soybean fields.

University of Alabama at Birmingham

A university partner in the multi-institution soybean research team.

The details

Researchers will sequence RNA, the molecular messages cells use to carry out instructions, in both greenhouse and field conditions to find the genetic signals that heat and drought change. Scientists at Mississippi State University will use drones and unmanned robotic vehicles to record environmental conditions and image soybean fields. The team also hopes to identify microbes that can reduce heat and drought stress, which could be applied to seeds as a coating or sprayed onto plants.

Mukhtar assumed his current Clemson University post on July 1.
The four-year iPACERS project will study two soybean varieties under heat and drought.

The Tech Race

The project joins the NSF EPSCoR program's regional research portfolio, which spreads federal science funding across multiple states and institutions. Its use of RNA sequencing and drone imaging places it alongside broader efforts to apply genomics and remote sensing to crop stress research.

The soybean research is at an early stage, so no new seeds or treatments are available to farmers yet. Any microbe-based seed coating or spray would require further testing before it reaches growers, and the source does not give a timeline for that.

The takeaway

Watch for field results from the four-year iPACERS project comparing the two soybean varieties under heat and drought. The team's microbe research could also serve as a model for corn and other food crops, as Mukhtar has suggested.