AMES, Iowa — The Iowa State University Agricultural Engineering/Agronomy Research and Demonstration Farm near Boone has new leadership.
Mike Fiscus has been appointed superintendent of the farm and Nathan Meyers has been named the farm’s agricultural engineering manager.
Both are Iowa State alums. Fiscus earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural studies in 1993 and Meyers earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural systems technology in 2009.
Fiscus has served as the farm’s co-manager since 2003, and in a variety of agricultural field research capacities since joining Iowa State in 1995. He previously shared management of the farm with Richard VanDePol, who retired Aug. 3, after 39 years with Iowa State research farms.
In his new position, Fiscus will be responsible for overall coordination, budget, personnel, field research operations and the primary contact for agronomy researchers.
Meyers has worked at the research farm since 2011. As the ag engineering manager, Meyers will be responsible for the shops, the extensive machinery fleet, ag engineering facilities and GPS applications. He will be the primary contact for agricultural and biosystems engineering faculty and USDA researchers.
Research at the farm focuses on corn, soybeans, biomass sorghum, soil management, water quality, agricultural machinery and a variety of other agricultural topics. The research farm’s staff includes Zachary Koopman, Ethan Thies, Dale Niedermann and Jeff Erb who, along with Fiscus and Meyers, form a team that serves more than 100 research projects and hosts several hundred visitors annually.
