By Madelyn Ostendorf
This year marks the 95th anniversary of Iowa State University’s Northern Research and Demonstration Farm. Originally, the farm's research included several crops, including sugar beets. Now, this property has expanded to include some of the longest-running experiments on soil fertility and crop response to micronutrients, continuously running since the 1960s and 1980s, respectively.
In addition to the anniversary, the farm is celebrating the completion of a new building, which features a lobby/welcome area, offices for farm staff, a small meeting room, a large multi-use area and a kitchenette. It will be used to host events such as Planter University, the North Central Iowa Research Association’s annual meetings and extension gatherings. The flex space is heated and air conditioned and has already proved valuable to the town of Kanawha – a local high school senior recently held his graduation party in the space.
“To me, that’s one of the most important things that the farm does, being so integrated into the town,” said Kendall Lamkey, associate dean for facilities and operations at Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “This farm is a little unique, I think, because it's the oldest, it's also just outside the city of Kanawha, so it's almost part of the town.”
Construction of the building was funded by the Expanding the Impact campaign.
History of the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm
The farm, located in Kanawha, is the oldest of the 14 off-campus research and demonstration farms Iowa State manages across the state, focusing on research, teaching and extension opportunities for livestock and cropping farms. The Northern Research and Demonstration Farm was established in March of 1930 to help meet the agricultural and informational needs of the neighboring community in the face of the Great Depression.
The Kanawha Chamber of Commerce and 400 local residents raised the funds to purchase 85 acres of land, and with the assistance of the now-named North Central Iowa Research Association, leased it to Iowa State in 1931. Land has gradually been added to the farm, which now totals 173 acres of cropland and research plots.
Greg Guenther, president of the North Central Iowa Research Association, said the partnership between the North Central Iowa Research Association and Iowa State is a model used for other Iowa State Research and Demonstration Farms across the state and by other university research farm relationships across the globe.
On Sept. 29, 1932, the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm hosted its first field day – what would become a tradition to share research findings and offer farmers a chance to ask questions. The farm continually hosts demonstrations, showing new technologies and techniques and interacting with local farmers and community members.
“A lot of times, the ‘demonstration’ part of the farm’s name gets left off,” Guenther said. “I like to emphasize the demonstration part because that's how the information we discover gets back out to the people.”
Lamkey said Iowa State is fortunate to have access to such a wide variety of research facilities. Researchers can find a soil type that works with their project and work with extension specialists to distribute their findings directly to the people it affects through field days.
"The Northern Research and Demonstration Farm enables me to evaluate disease management practices for yield protection of corn and soybean in an 'on-farm' setting under real-world conditions that I can share with Iowa producers to improve their production," said Alison Robertson, professor of plant pathology.
Learn about Iowa State’s other research and demonstration farms.