Investing in Research: Kansas Soybean welcomes Dr. Kraig Roozeboom
Following Ed Anderson’s retirement, KSC taps cropping systems expert to lead research program.
The Kansas Soybean Commission is excited to welcome Dr. Kraig Roozeboom into the role of research consultant. Roozeboom is an Iowa native who retired from Kansas State University in August of 2025, having held research, teaching and extension roles there since 1990. His research program at K-State focused on production systems for soybean, corn, sorghum and other crops, with major emphases on optimization of no-till cropping systems and maximizing resource-use efficiency.
“I am very excited to have someone with Kraig’s experience and connections taking on this contractor role for us,” says Kaleb Little, KSC administrator.
As research assistant, Roozeboom will help facilitate the request-for-proposals process, offering technical expertise as commissioners vet projects based on return on investment and avoiding redundancy. Once funding decisions are made, he will coordinate with researchers to review their reports and progress, highlighting important information to share with farmers.
“Anything we can do to improve soybeans’ fit and productivity in Kansas cropping systems should enhance farmers’ profitability as well as the economic and environmental sustainability of Kansas agriculture,” Roozeboom says.
Having participated in a variety of checkoff-funded research projects himself, Roozeboom hopes to contribute to enhancing the efficiency of Kansas soybean farmers. His work will support farm profitability and guide better practices to manage and protect the land that feeds the world. “Row-crop farming and agriculture in general are important to me because farmers manage most of the land in the state and in the U.S.,” Roozeboom says. “Helping farmers to do that profitably and sustainably should enhance the stewardship of the tremendous land resource under our care.”
Honoring Ed Anderson
Ed Anderson retired as research assistant for the Kansas Soybean Commission and executive director of the North Central Soybean Research Program in December 2025. He led NCSRP for 12 years, during which it grew to be one of the most highly regarded checkoff organizations in the nation.
NCSRP is a 13-state collaboration for checkoff-funded regional research and outreach. During his tenure, Anderson strove to improve research quality by connecting farmers and researchers, as well as building connections within the research community to eliminate redundant work and bring together more unique strengths.
“I think we improved and developed more trust, rapport and partnership between researchers, farmers, and soybean associations,” he says. “My greatest feeling of accomplishment is bringing people together and building programs that brought coordination of research to drive the return on investments, and attract other funds for research that farmers need in the short term and the long term.”
In 2022, Anderson became the first to fill the research assistant position at KSC, a role he fulfilled alongside his duties at NCSRP. His expertise and connections were invaluable in guiding the KSC research portfolio, as he advised commissioners in funding decisions and pushed researchers to pursue work that holds on-farm value. “We are grateful to Ed for lending his decades of experience in soybean research and grateful to have worked alongside someone with his credentials and collaborative nature,” says Kaleb Little, KSC administrator. “At the state and national level, Ed’s leadership has directly improved soybean farmers’ bottom lines.”