August 28, 2006
AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University Northern Research and Demonstration Farm will celebrate its 75th anniversary Sept. 8.
The North Iowa Experimental Association, which owns the farm, and Iowa State will host a day-long field day and open house at the farm located on the south edge of Kanawha on County Road R-35. The celebration begins at 10 a.m. and concludes at 3 p.m.
Highlights of the day include a general program, walking tours, a pork sandwich lunch, educational displays, and shuttle trips to view research projects. Special guests for the day will include Wendy Wintersteen, ISU dean of agriculture, Congressman Tom Latham and Iowa State researchers.
"The open house will be much more than talks," said Harley Kreitlow, president of the research farm board. "There will be walking tours that will let folks see how corn hybrids and soybean varieties have improved. It's been a long time since I've seen Hawkeye soybeans but they're planted in one of the demonstration plots. The garden demonstration is always interesting, too."
After lunch farm visitors can choose to take the wagon tours, view displays, or listen to presentations in the main tent area. Elwynn Taylor, extension climatologist, will discuss how weather impacts crops. Kendall Lamkey, chair of the Iowa State agronomy department, will talk about the future of agronomic research.
Tour stops include: nitrogen management, corn production, phosphorus and potassium fertilizer management, and soybean disease management. Another wagon tour will stop at a small rainfall simulator that shows how tillage practices relate to soil erosion. The wagon tours will be pulled by antique tractors.