CALS Online and Dean’s Message
March 28, 2022
Dean’s Message
Happy Monday CALS – It was a beautiful spring weekend. I hope you had a chance to get out and soak up some sun… Last week I was out and about visiting with the Iowa Pork Producers Association (with Jason Ross), the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Corn Promotion Board (with Dan Anderson)… And I had a number of key meetings on our Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods program in Uganda… More
Top Stories
Research on Swine Sire Fertility has Implications for Cattle, Humans
Karl Kerns, animal science, is leading a new five-year grant from the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture to support research on boar sperm capacitation - the biological pathways that support spermatozoa’s ability to fertilize. The grant is one of 14 funded nationwide under NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Animal Reproduction Program. This project, and two other recent awards to collaborate with colleagues at the University of Missouri and the USDA Agricultural Research Service, total $1.7 million in federal support for Kerns’ work studying male fertility. More
Research
Iowa State Research Day is March 30
Iowa State Research Day is Wednesday, March 30, at the Memorial Union. Lisa Schulte Moore, natural resource ecology and management, will provide the keynote address, and several CALS faculty will be involved in breakout sessions and lightning talks. Registration is available online.
Iowa Nutrient Research Center Invites Project Proposals
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center is accepting proposals for research projects designed to reduce nitrate and phosphorus in Iowa’s water. Proposals are due by May 10. Proposed projects must be led by Iowa State, University of Iowa or University of Northern Iowa, as dictated by the center’s legislative mandate. Other research partners may include organizations, agencies, businesses, other Iowa colleges and landowners. More
AGCO Joins ISRC Advisory Council
AGCO Corporation has joined the Iowa Soybean Research Center as an industry advisor. In this role, AGCO provides financial support to the center and will have a representative serving on the ISRC’s industry advisory council, which provides guidance on research funding priorities for the center. More
Teaching and Students
Attend the Cyclone Stampede Rodeo this Weekend
The Rodeo Club at Iowa State is hosting its 59th Cyclone Stampede Rodeo on April 1-2 at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Performances will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday and 1 and 7 p.m. on Saturday. More
Maple Syrup Day Scheduled for April 2
The Iowa State chapter of Xi Sigma Pi, the National Forestry Honor Society, is hosting Maple Syrup Day on Saturday, April 2, from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Iowa Arboretum in Madrid. All you can eat pancakes with pure and regular maple syrup will be available for $8. There will also be a maple tapping demonstration, timbersports demonstration, children’s activities and crafts, and a live wood-turning display.
Lawn Mower Service Days Set for April 8-9
The Agricultural Systems Technology Club will hold its annual lawn mower service days April 8 (1 to 6 p.m.) and April 9 (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.), at Sukup Hall. Routine service includes an oil change, a new spark plug, blade sharpening, air filter cleaning, deck cleaning and a power wash. Pricing is $35 for a push mower and $15 for a weed eater. Pickup and delivery (Ames only) is available for $25; send an email request to astservicedays@gmail.com.
Engineers from Ghana Visit ISU for Collaborative Research
Dirk Maier, agricultural and biosystems engineering, and doctorate student George Obeng-Akrofi hosted fellow members of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s Engineers Without Borders student organization in Kumasi, Ghana. Five members of the program spent two weeks at Iowa State taking classes, attending seminars and working with EWB-ISU students and faculty. More
CALS Student Passes the State Presidential Gavel
For the first time, two students from Iowa State will serve as back-to-back presidents of the Professional Agricultural Students Organization of Iowa. As Jenna Steffen, senior in agricultural and life sciences education – teacher certificate option, steps down from this role, Jacob Fjeld, sophomore in agricultural and life sciences education – communications option, is stepping up to take her place. More
Extension and Outreach
Poultry Exhibitions Suspended in Iowa
On March 23, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced an order suspending all live bird exhibitions at fairs and other gatherings due to highly pathogenic avian influenza. The order also prohibits live birds from being sold or transferred at livestock auction markets, swap meets and exotic sales. The order is effective immediately for a minimum of 30 days, and until 30 days have passed without a positive case of a new infection in the state of Iowa. If live bird exhibitions become canceled, Iowa 4-H will be ready to provide other safe, hands-on learning opportunities. More
Webinar Offers Results of Using Aquatic Drone to Sample Water Quality
Using an aquatic drone to sample water quality in Iowa’s waterways is the topic of the Iowa Learning Farms conservation webinar on Wednesday, March 30, at noon. Peter Levi, associate director of the Burke Center for Freshwater Innovation at Northland College in Wisconsin, will present.
Around the College
Dean Robison to Host CALS Chat on April 4
Dean Robison will host a CALS Chat on April 4 from 4 to 5 p.m. in 220 Science II. The informal, drop-in event will be an opportunity for casual conversation. Wine and cheese will be available.
Lecturer Discusses Incorporating Gender Equality into Agricultural Research
Hale Tufan, research professor in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University, shared some of her research into gender equality within plant breeding programs during a lecture March 24. Titled, “Shifting Gender Equality from Afterthought to Guiding Goal of Agricultural Innovation,” the lecture tied in with March being Women's History Month. More
Seed Business Management Webinar Series Available Free
The Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business is hosting a free Seed Business Management Webinar Series April 11-15. Topics include supply chain disruption, the upcoming Farm Bill, carbon’s impact on agriculture and an outlook on wheat. A webinar is scheduled each day at 11 a.m. It is free to all, but registration is required. More
Calendar
March 28: George Fuller Memorial Lecture
The George Fuller Memorial Lecture will be held today, March 28, from 3:40 to 5 p.m. in 368A Heady Hall. David Cooper, chair of the economics department at the University of Iowa, will present “Using Team Discussions to Understand Behavior in Indefinitely Repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma Games.” More
April 1: FSHN Alum to Speak at Flagship Friday
Khaled Kasih (’92 food science and technology-agriculture) is the speaker for Flagship Friday on April 1 from noon to 12:55 p.m. at the Student Innovation Center. Kasih, general manager of Kasih Food Production Company of Amman Jordan, will present “Be Known for Excellence in One Thing: How doing one thing exceptionally well drives business success.”
April 4: Shivvers Memorial Lecture
The 2022 Shivvers Memorial Lecture will be held April 4 at 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Timothy Wise, senior advisor at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, will present “Eating Tomorrow: Climate Change and the Battle for the Future of Food.” Sponsors include the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture. More
April 7: Stupka Undergraduate Research Symposium
The 16th annual Stupka Undergraduate Research Symposium will be held in person on April 7, with virtual streaming options. The symposium is organized and run by students in biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, and designed to encourage the interaction between students and faculty. Registration (open through April 1) is free and open to all. More
April 8: Livestock for Improved Lives and Livelihoods
Animal science is hosting a seminar on “Livestock for Improved Lives and Livelihoods” on April 8 from 3:20 to 4:10 p.m. in the Ensminger Room, 1204 Kildee Hall. The speaker is Gbola Adesogan, professor of ruminant nutrition at the University of Florida and director of the Food Systems Institute and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. This lab is part of the U.S. government’s “Feed the Future” global hunger and food security initiative.
April 12: Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture
The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging issues in Agriculture will be held April 12 at 7 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 0127 Curtiss Hall. Craig Hill, Iowa farmer and former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, will present “The Future of Agriculture: A Reflection and Discussion on Emerging Trends and Issues.” The event is free and open to the public. More
Infograzing
Gutowski to Present on Climate Change in Iowa
William Gutowski, geological and atmospheric sciences, will present the LAS Dean’s Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Durham Great Hall. In “Climate Change in Iowa: How we got here, how we can choose a better future together,” he will demonstrate how individuals who specialize in sociology, English, journalism, philosophy and other perhaps unexpected areas can help empower communities to make climate change actions that will be effective. More
ERS to Hold Data Training Webinars
A new webinar series from the USDA Economic Research Service provides an introduction to ERS data products, demonstrating where to find the data online and how to use the data. The first webinar is Wednesday, March 30, at noon and will focus on agricultural trade multipliers. More
Annual Industry Study Underscores Role of Food and Agriculture Sectors in Feeding the Economy
Thirty food and agriculture groups released the sixth annual Feeding the Economy report, a historic farm-to-fork economic analysis revealing how these sectors influence the local and broader United States economies. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s study highlights how the industries remained resilient to provide Americans with jobs, economic opportunity and safe food. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
http://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is published by email every Monday. The deadline for submitting content is 12 p.m. on Thursday.