Nicolas Cafaro La Menza was elected 2025 Vice Leader of the Applied Soybean Research Community at the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America International Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Nov. 10-13. In 2026 he will become Presiding Leader. He is an agronomy and horticulture assistant professor and cropping systems specialist at the West Central Research, Extension and Education Center in North Platte.
Communities are groups of ASA members with common professional interests. Their purpose is to bring members together, promote scientific exchange, share information, support planning, improve communication, and coordinate programs. Key activities include presenting papers and symposia at the Annual Meeting, as well as offering student and regular member awards.
The Applied Soybean Research Community is focused on fostering communication among applied soybean researchers worldwide to further the science that supports modern soybean production.
“It has been a pleasure to work with colleagues and their students who conduct applied soybean research across the US and worldwide,” Cafaro La Menza said. It is an honor for me to be elected as vice chair of the Applied Soybean community.”
Cafaro La Menza research involves crop nutrient dynamics and resource use efficiency of sunlight, water and nitrogen to integrate into cropping systems. His long-term research goal is to develop agronomic tools and strategies to improve agroecosystems management productively and sustainably.
Born and raised in Argentina, Cafaro La Menza grew up on a family farm where he planted and tended an annual garden with his grandparents and where his interest in agriculture began. He also attended Escuela Agropecuaria de Tres Arroyos, the agricultural high school in his hometown. Still, he attributes much of his interest in plants and science to several undergraduate and graduate school mentors.
Cafaro La Menza earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from the University of Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, in 2014. In 2015, he came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln as a research scholar. He continued at Nebraska as a doctoral student earning a Ph.D. in agronomy, specializing in crop physiology and production in 2019.
As a cropping systems specialist at the WCREEC, Cafaro La Menza provides research-based information to growers to help them make their daily agronomic decisions.
“This is a great recognition as an early career faculty and a great responsibility that I am ready to honor,” Cafaro La Menza said.
