Recent Accomplishments

More Accomplishments

Report for Council on Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching (CARET) 2023

 

CALS Research for Applications Today
 

  • Growing Crops in Solar Farm’s Footprint
    A multidisciplinary team of ISU researchers is studying agrivoltaics – using solar power sites for agriculture to make more efficient use of the land and create value for communities. The project is possible thanks to public-private investments, including Alliant Energy’s development of a solar farm at Iowa State and a large U.S. Department of Energy grant.
    https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2023/02/15/agrivoltaics
     
  • Improving Genetics to Fight #1 Soybean Pest  
    Soybean yields are dropping due to damage from the Soybean Cyst Nematode. ISU research supported by the Iowa Soybean Research Center, in partnership with the Iowa Soybean Association, is seeking to develop new tools, including improved genetics, to fight North America’s most threatening pest.
    https://www.iasoybeans.com/newsroom/video/state-of-soy-this-pest-is-in-70-of-soybean-fields
     
  • Generating Renewable Energy from Cover Crops
    A multidisciplinary research team is part of an $80 million federal grant to show how generating renewable natural gas from cover crops and prairie grass could give farmers market-based motivation to adopt conservation practices that sequester carbon dioxide and improve water quality.
    https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2022/09/22/horizon

  • Enhancing Hands-on Learning, Research and Extension in Feed Technology
    The nearly completed Iowa State University Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex will enhance ISU teaching, research and Extension programs related to feed technology, grain science and animal nutrition. The facility supports a new feed technology minor, preparing students to meet growing demands for skilled professionals in the feed and grain industries.
    Iowa State University Kent Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex (iastate.edu)

  • Supporting Poultry Science Through New Turkey Teaching and Research Facility  
    In November, 1,800 poults (young turkeys) arrived at the new Stanley L. Balloun Turkey Teaching and Research Facility. The only establishment of its kind focused on turkey production at a major university, the facility will strengthen Iowa State’s long-time poultry science program and support for industry partners.
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/turkeys-placed-iowa-state-teaching-research-farm
     
  • Breeding Sorghum for Biofuels Advances Climate Resiliency
    Future energy options may include sorghum-based biofuels, thanks to new inbred lines that are significantly more productive and cold-hardy than sorghum plants of the past.
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/breeding-transforms-sorghum-s-potential-biofuel-future-northern-latitudes
     
  • Modeling for Increased Farm Profitability, Decreased Environmental Impacts
    The Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) is an advanced farming systems modeling platform, which can analyze diverse combinations of management practices and/or cropping sequences to increase farm profitability and decrease environmental impacts. Iowa State leads the APSIM network in the United States.
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-university-agronomist-predicts-future-through-modeling
     
  • Testing Facility for Power and Transmission Capabilities Opens to Support Faculty, Students, Industry
    The new $2.9 million Off-Highway Vehicle Chassis Dynamometer (Dyno) Laboratory, supported by Danfoss Power Solutions, is one of only a few facilities in the nation equipped to test power control and transmission capabilities of large agricultural and construction machinery. Located at the BioCentury Research Farm, Iowa State’s Dyno Lab advances research to improve power train performance and control systems for off-road and agricultural vehicles by faculty, students and partners. 
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-university-holds-dedication-ceremony-vehicle-testing-lab-supported-danfoss
     
  • Supporting Financial Decision-making with New Conservation Planning Tool 
    Conservation planning enters a new era of precision problem-solving with the Financial and Nutrient Reduction Tool (FiNRT), part of the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework. With FiNRT, planners and landowners can get realistic estimates of the costs and benefits of adopting conservation practices using data from their own watershed or farm.
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/new-conservation-planning-tool-allows-users-evaluate-tailored-cost-benefit-tradeoffs
     
  • Demonstrating that Butterflies Can Coexist with Crop Land
    Years of research on the monarch butterfly offer evidence that planting habitat anywhere in the agricultural landscapes of the Upper Midwest will support growth of monarch populations, even if some of that habitat is near crop fields treated with insecticides.
    https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2022/12/14/monarchs

 

CALS Foundational Research for the Future
 

  • Studying Genetic Pathway in Fish for Future Treatment of Human Blood Diseases
    Basic science by Iowa State researchers is examining a genetic pathway that could lead to the ability to treat blood diseases by regenerating a patient’s blood cells. A large grant from the National Institutes of Health is supporting work to study pathways in human cells and in zebrafish that have great potential to spark advances in regenerative medicine.
    https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2022/03/16/bloodstemcells
     
  • Improving Foundation for Swine Health by Mining Blood Cell Data
    ISU animal scientists are leading a new study with partners in the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Genome Canada and the PigGen Canada research consortium to improve selection for disease resilience by mining the intricate content of pigs’ blood cells.
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/new-study-led-iowa-state-university-mines-blood-cell-data-improve-swine-health
     
  • Exploiting Genetic Mutation to Accelerate Plant Breeding Process
    Researchers have discovered a genetic mutation in plants they think can solve a long-standing challenge associated with development of pure genetic lines. Use of “doubled haploid” genetics to accelerate breeding is one of the basic technologies underpinning modern corn breeding. However, DH technology involves a labor-intensive, expensive process that depends on a toxic chemical. A genetic mutation identified by Iowa State scientists has great potential to overcome the resource-intensive protocols currently in place for artificial (chemical) genome doubling methods to obtain DH lines. The project is supported by the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research in a partnership that involves six plant breeding companies. 
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/scientists-exploit-genetic-mutation-accelerate-plant-breeding-process
     
  • Leading Genomes to Phenomes Collaboration to Advance Crop and Livestock Research
    A multidisciplinary, multi-institutional initiative is being led by ISU scientists to help advance crop and livestock research by exploring how genomes (organisms’ complete set of DNA) influence phenomes, the expression of observable traits. The effort, supported by the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture, is fostering diverse collaborations of crop and livestock scientists in data science, statistics, engineering and social sciences, to improve the long-term efficiency and resilience of U.S. agriculture. 
    https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/major-usda-grant-supports-pioneering-agricultural-genome-phenome-collaboration-led

 

Students and Teaching
 

 

Serving Iowans through ISU Extension and Outreach
 

  • Supporting Mental Health and Wellness for Rural Iowans
    ISU Extension has been at the forefront of helping rural communities, farmers and youth expand capacity to respond to mental health and suicide-related concerns, through programs including Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), the Iowa Concern hotline and QPR: Question. Persuade. Refer.
    https://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/farm-mental-health-and-wellness-program-benefits-iowa-farmers-rural-communities
     
  • Guiding Drought Response
    In response to emergency drought conditions, ISU Extension helped farmers and landowners prepare.  About 90% indicated better understanding of crops under drought conditions, 85% improved understanding of weather trends, 90% better understood implications for drought-impacted silage and 95% improved understanding of crop insurance options.
    Drought Meetings to Be Offered in Iowa | News (iastate.edu)
     
  • Demystifying Carbon Markets and Contracts
    College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty and ISU Extension and Outreach professionals are positioning Iowa as a world leader in emerging carbon markets by helping farmers assess the financial returns available from alternative carbon farming contracts.
    https://src.iastate.edu/nextgenagmarkets
     
  • Helping Farmers Cope with Cyber-Security Threats
    ISU Extension via Ag Decision Maker is helping farmers and other Iowa citizens effectively avoid internet security threats, in coordination with resource partners including Iowa State’s Center for Cybersecurity Innovation and Outreach and the program Stop.Think.Connect sponsored by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).
    https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c6-59.html
     
  • Training Farmers to Use New Precision Planting Technology to Go Farther Faster
    ISU Extension and the CALS Digital Agriculture Team have been sponsoring hands-on workshops for row-crop farmers and ag business professionals to adopt and use advanced, high-speed planters. About 80% of participants surveyed after the trainings estimated the value they gained was $5 per acre, and 24% stated it was greater than $10, resulting in a conservative estimate of $419,850 in value. 
    Planter University | ISU Ag & Natural Resources Extension (iastate.edu)