Issue: 803

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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
June 16, 2014 No. 803

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COLLEGE NEWS
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WEB BANNER: MEAT ANIMAL EVALUATION CONTEST CELEBRATES 50 YEARS
A new banner on the CALS website homepage features a recent celebration of the first 50 years of the Meat Animal Evaluation Contest. Animal science educators from around the country came together in 1964 to formally combine the judging of animals and the meat from those animals. Until then livestock specialists tended to judge live animals by their appearance without considering the meat they produced. Jim Kiser, a former Iowa State professor and an alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science in 1942, was recognized as being a “pioneer” of the concept.

TRACK AND FIELD STAR NOW COMBATING LIVESTOCK DISEASES
Sara Stoakes has traded in her track spikes for a lab coat and safety glasses as a graduate student in CALS department of animal science. Stoakes was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Track and Field Hall of Fame in May. She will graduate from ISU with a doctorate in nutritional sciences with a specialization in animal nutrition. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/track-and-field-star-now-rac…

SEBRANEK HONORED BY MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
Joe Sebranek, animal science, has been named the 2014 R.C. Pollock Award winner by the American Meat Science Association. The award represents lasting and exceptional contributions to meat science and AMSA.

CALS STUDENTS EARN SCHOLARSHIPS
Eleven CALS undergraduate students were awarded academic scholarships this spring from the Iowa Crop Improvement Association to support those planning to pursue careers in seed science or the seed industry. The sophomores, juniors and seniors were recognized at the annual Agronomy Student Recognition Banquet during spring semester.

IOWA LEARNING FARMS TO HOST PRAIRIE STRIPS FIELD DAY, JUNE 19
Iowa Learning Farms will host a field day at the Roverud Family Partnership Farm near Elkader on Thursday, June 19, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The field day will focus on using prairie strips integrated with row crops for reductions in nutrient and sediment runoff. The event is free-of-charge, open to the public and a meal will be provided.

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTION FIELD DAYS START JUNE 23
Selling produce at farmers markets, flower production, tomato grafting and pumpkin production are topics that will be covered by ISU Extension and Outreach, the Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and central Iowa farmers during field days this summer. Sequence planting field day at Red Grant Farm in Boone County will take place June 23, 6 to 8 p.m. Steve and Nicole Jonas grow a variety of vegetables and perennial plants for sale at farmer’s markets.

FIVE FIELD DAYS NEXT WEEK AT RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION FARMS
Field days give farmers and the public a chance to see research projects in progress and talk with the researchers involved in the experiments. They also provide the opportunity to view the latest in modern agriculture. ISU research and demonstration farms will host five field days around the state next week.

Crop production issues in a late start to the season will highlight the field day at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua, June 24, 1 to 4:30 p.m.
A farm tour and the annual meeting of the Muscatine Island Research Farm Association will be held at the Muscatine Island Research and Demonstration Farm on June 24, 5:30 p.m. A wagon tour of the farm will feature the new weather station, herbicide trials, biochar soil amendment and information about Palmer Amaranth. A meal and the annual meeting will follow the tour. Contact the research farm for more information: (563) 262-8787.
Early season management and scouting for field crop insects, the soybean herbicide demonstration plot, and timely corn and soybean production topics will highlight the field day at the Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm near Sutherland, June 25, 9 a.m.
Nitrogen management, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in agriculture and efficient fuel use on the farm will highlight the spring field day at the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm near Kanawha, June 26, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Crop weather outlook, making fungicide application decisions and soil drainage update will highlight the field day at the Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Crawfordsville, June 26, 1 p.m.

LEOPOLD CENTER ISSUES 2014 REQUEST FOR PRE-PROPOSAL
The Leopold Center has issued its summer 2014 Request for Pre-proposals to fund new competitive grants to begin in 2015. The center is especially interested in pre-proposals in the areas of soil health, biotic integrity, identifying and managing vulnerabilities to agriculture, and food hubs/food distribution business development. Concept papers are due July 8.

CALS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STAFF MEMBER DIES
Joel Higgins, CALS information technology specialist, died June 9. He was 32. Higgins began working for the college in 2010 and struggled with health issues due to lymphoblastic leukemia. At the end of May he had a double lung transplant and passed away due to complications from the transplant. A memorial fund has been organized to help his family with medical costs, (http://www.youcaring.com/memorial-fundraiser/joel-higgins-memorial/1894…).

DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
June 24: Field Day at Northeast Research Farm, 1-4:30 p.m., https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-university-resear…
June 25: Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open
June 26: Iowa Swine Day, 9 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., Scheman, https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-swine-day-discuss-topic…

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
Additional information is posted at CALS Funding Resources, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/research/fundingResources/

July 9: USDA NIFA Sun Grant Program; $2.5 million.

July 15 and Jan 15: NIH FDA Scientific Conference Grant Program (R13/U13). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-14-237.html#_Components…

July 18 (stakeholder relevance statement): USDA NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative/Citrus Disease Research and Extension; $50,000 to $10 million.

Aug. 15 and Jan. 20 (concept papers): USAID Ghana - Empowering Agriculture; four awards, universities must partner with apply commercial entity, 100 percent cost share. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=257572

Sept. 25: NIH Animal and Biological Material Resource Centers (P40). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-14-005.html

Oct 5: NIH Improvement of Animal Models for Stem Cell-Based Regenerative Medicine (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-114.html

Oct. 5: NIH Development and Characterization of Animal Models for Aging Research (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-155.html

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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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WEBINAR DISCUSSES TRANSPARENCY IN AGRICULTURE
With the increased consumer interest in learning where their food comes from, transparency has become a buzzword in agriculture. Some industry segments welcome this public interest and others clearly do not. Joy Rumble, assistant professor in agricultural education and communication at the University of Florida, will discuss how the agricultural industry can improve communications to be more transparent and how this can impact consumers’ attitudes and trust towards agriculture. The webinar is sponsored by the Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Florida. More: http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=418df07bfb29016dfe47a6eb7&id=a9e096…

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INTERNAL VOICES
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DEITER: ON STUDENT ATHLETE UNIONS
Ron Deiter, economics, teaches a class at ISU called economics of sports. In a June 11 article for the Iowa State Daily, he said that because of the complicated and legal nature of the issue, he does not see mass student-athlete unionization throughout the nation on the horizon, and that includes Iowa State. “There would be a lot of hassles and headaches [to unionization],” Deiter said. “I am not sure the benefits outweigh the costs.” More

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EXTERNAL VOICES
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ENGLISH PROFESSOR ON COMPILING A BOOK LIST
Linda Hall, an associate professor of English at Skidmore College, writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education on students requesting a reading list from faculty. She encourages students to compile their own lists throughout their education and to make time to discover new books and new authors. Hall quotes Leon Wieseltier: “Browsing is the opposite of search. Search corrects your knowledge, browsing corrects your ignorance. Search narrows, browsing enlarges.” More: http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2014/06/03/what-to-read-dont-as…

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MARGINALIA
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GEOGRAPHY MISTAKES PLAGUE MANY IOWA LIBRARIES
Sloppy Googling on mobile phones is giving librarians headaches. In an article in the June 10 issue of The Des Moines Register, Kyle Munson explains how “our gracious, old-school guardians of local knowledge spread among the state’s 544 public libraries (412 of those libraries serving populations of fewer than 2,500) are wrangling with a world in which nearly 60 percent of American adults now own smartphones. And too few of those smartphone users seem willing to scrutinize their hasty search results before they misdial.” For example:

A librarian in McGregor received a call about hours by a woman who was standing outside a locked library…in McGregor, Texas.
A librarian in Ionia was asked about the summer reading program…in Ionia, Mich.
A librarian in suburban Des Moines received a request for information by a police detective working on a case…in Altoona, Pa.
A librarian in Newton had a teacher stop by to pick up books reserved for a class. The books were…in Newton, Kan.

More: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/local/kyle-munson/2014/06/1…

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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline

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