College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
May 16, 2016 – No. 900
Top Stories
CALS Graduate: Farming’s Not Just a Job
Joel Watson’s video, Farming’s Not Just a Job, is a story about how he decided to continue working on the family farm. "Farmers have a lot passion for what they do. I wanted to capture some of that raw emotion and present it in a way that anyone could understand. It was fun to be able to tell my farm story and show people why I want to return to my family's farm," Watson said. The assignment was part of Virginia Hanson’s agricultural communications class. Hanson, a lecturer in the agricultural education and studies department, asked students to gather photos, shoot video, write scripts and narrate their agricultural story. Watson graduated on May 7 with a degree in agricultural studies. He plans to work at Nielsen Agronomics Inc. and farm near Ventura, Iowa. More
Research
ISU Research Shows Turtles May Not be Immune to Old Age
Nearly 30 years of data collected on painted turtles in the Mississippi River near Clinton show that females suffer a steep dip in fertility before the end of their lives, a finding that is inconsistent with what scientists have long believed about turtles and aging. A team of ISU scientists, including Fredric Janzen and Anne Bronikowski, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, recently published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More
Researchers Develop Soy-based Turfgrass Fertilizer
David Grewell, director of the Center for Bioplastics and Biocomposites, and James Schrader, an associate scientist in horticulture, have developed a soy-based, biorenewable, slow-release fertilizer. The nitrogen that is found in the soy breaks down slowly, providing the lawn with nutrients for a longer period of time compared to typical water-soluble products. More
Teaching and Students
ISU Students Get Hands-on Experience with Biomass Production
ISU students and their work at the BioCentury Research Farm were featured on KWQC TV6 on May 10. Students there are at the forefront of cutting edge biomass research, in hopes of creating a world with less waste and more profit. The BCRF is the only facility of its kind in the world where most projects are designed, built and run by students. More
ISU Named Finalist in National Dairy Product Competition
Beyond the Bar, a frozen snack created by eight ISU students, is one of three finalists in the National Dairy Council’s New Product Competition. The product was developed by food science undergraduates Jesse Fitch, Natalie Haag, Emily Simonson and Amanda Speltz; culinary food science students Maria Dickson and Taylor Boyle; chemical engineering student Colby Abrams; and concurrent food science senior and first-year business graduate student Zenia Adiwijaya. More
Meat Judging Team Completes Spring Competition Schedule
The ISU Meat Judging Team completed their spring competition schedule in April at the Southeastern Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest hosted by The Ohio State University-Columbus and the University of Kentucky-Lexington. The team earned fourth place out of nine teams. Divisional honors for the ISU team included third in beef grading, specifications and pork judging, and fourth in reasons. Individual honors included: Austin Egolf, agricultural studies, first in placings; Michaella Fevold, animal science, first in beef judging; Rachel Wynn, animal science, fourth in high individual contest; and Laura Yoder, agricultural and life sciences education, third in beef grading. More
CALS Ambassadors Recognized for Contributions to Recruitment
CALS Ambassadors that graduated last weekend were recognized at a CALS Cabinet meeting on May 6. Each has made a significant contribution to college recruitment. Kayla Hasper, animal ecology and environmental studies; Michael Knight, agricultural and life sciences education with a communications option; Kendra Keitzer, agronomy; Nicole Zitelman, agricultural business; Kilah Hemesath, agricultural business and public relations; Katelyn Warin, agriculture communications and international agriculture; Kellen Suntken, agricultural studies; Shelby Oldenkamp, animal science; Matt Heiller, agricultural studies; Jennifer Elliott, agricultural communications; Alexandra Ferguson, agronomy; Andrew Luzum, agricultural business; Elizabeth Cooper, animal science; Kara Maxwell, dairy science and international agriculture; Erika Edwards, animal science; and Matthew Kerns, animal science and international agriculture.
Extension and Outreach
Cash Rent Prices Decline for Third Consecutive Year
Rental rates for Iowa farmland have declined for the third consecutive year, according to results from the “2016 Cash Rental Rates for Iowa Survey” conducted by ISU Extension and Outreach. More
New Website for Regional Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator
The regional Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator website, which has been helping farmers determine profitable nitrogen rates since 2005, has a new URL, a revised nitrogen response trial database and is more user friendly for mobile devices. More
Farmers Willing to Assist in Monarch Conservation Efforts
According to the 2015 Iowa Farm and Rural Life Poll, forty-two percent of farmers surveyed responded that they would consider planting or improving monarch habitat on their land. More
Workshops Offer Nutrition and Wellness Research from ISU
ISU faculty in food science and human nutrition are holding four workshops around the state on May 20-25, to talk about new trends in nutrition and wellness and share the latest research from the university. More
Feed Efficiency Trials Featured at Beef Nutrition Showcase
Five years of research through USDA’s National Program for the Genetic Improvement of Feed Efficiency in Beef Cattle will be featured at the Beef Nutrition Showcase, to be held June 11, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the ISU Beef Nutrition Farm north of campus. Dan Loy, director of the Iowa Beef Center, said ISU is one of 11 universities involved in the project, “that has genotyped and phenotyped more than 8,000 head of cattle from nine breeds across the nation to date.” More
Around the College
Wang Named Fellow by American Oil Chemists Society
Tong Wang, food science and human nutrition, has been named a fellow by the American Oil Chemists Society. Wang is recognized for her outstanding contributions to the field of basic research in lipid chemistry and its extraction and novel applications. Particularly, her original work on lipid oxidation and antioxidation, structural modification for desirable nutritional properties and functionality, and developing alternative and sustainable extraction methods has gained wide recognition.
Calendar
May 18: Iowa Learning Farms Webinar
Iowa Learning Farms next webinar will be held May 18 at 1 p.m. and discuss monarch conservation in Iowa. The guest speaker is Steven Bradbury, professor of environmental toxicology in the departments of natural resource ecology and management and entomology at ISU. More
Sept. 8: CALS Fall Convocation
CALS fall convocation will be held Sept. 8 at 4:10 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The program will include brief comments from Dean Wendy Wintersteen, award presentations for this past spring’s award winners and recognition for the college’s new faculty and staff. A reception will follow.
Funding Opportunities
Webinar: DOE SBIR/STTR Phase 0 Assistance Program
On Aug. 15, the U.S. Department of Energy will release the FY 2017 funding opportunity announcement for Small Business Innovation Research Small Business Technology Transfer programs. In advance of this release, DOE is offering a Phase 0 Assistance program to support efforts to increase SBIR/STTR Phase I grant applications from small business concerns owned by women and/or minorities, and small businesses located in underrepresented states. Iowa is among the states classified as under-represented states. A free introductory webinar will be held May 23 at 1 p.m. There is no charge for services offered under the Phase 0 program. More
Livestreaming of Digital Agriculture Spoke All-Hands Meeting, May 16-17
The general meeting sessions of the Digital Agriculture Spoke All-Hands Meeting, hosted by ISU on May 16-17, can be viewed online. More
Funding Information, Opportunities and Deadline Reminders
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu. Additional information is posted at CALS Pre-Award Resources.
June 5, Oct. 5: NIH Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R01). More
June 5, Oct. 5: NIH Bioengineering Research Grants (R01). More
June 13: USDA NIFA Smith-Lever Special Needs Competitive Grants Program; 100 percent match required. More
July 1: Mazda Foundation Grants; includes education, scientific research and environmental conservation. More
July 14 (deadlines vary by program area): USDA AFRI Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts Challenge Area. More
July 25: NIH BD2K Predoctoral Training in Biomedical Big Data Science (T32). More
Aug. 10: NSF Computer and Information Science and Engineering Research Initiation Initiative (CRII). More
Sept. 16 (letter of intent): NIH Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (R03) and (R21). More: (R03), (R21)
Oct. 5: Novel Approaches to Understanding, Preventing and Treating Lyme Disease and Tick-borne Coinfections (R01). More
Oct. 16: NIH Novel Approaches to Understanding, Preventing and Treating Lyme Disease and Tick-borne Coinfections (R21) grants. More
TBA: DOE Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Reducing EMbodied-energy And Decreasing Emissions in Materials Manufacturing. More
Communications Kiosk
ANR Webinar – Telling the Extension Story with Video
Telling a story and educating others with video will be the topic of the ANR at Noon webinar to be held Friday, May 20, at 12 p.m. Pat Howard, ANR communications manager, and Shawn Shouse, agricultural engineering field specialist, will present “Extension Video – Tips and a Case Study.” More
Infograzing
USDA Releases Survey Results on Honey Bee Colony Health
USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service released the results of its first ever Honey Bee Colony Loss survey on May 12. The survey was developed as part of the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators released last summer, and gleans state-level estimates on key pollinator health topics. More
Marginalia
Iowa’s Best Burger is at The Chuckwagon in Adair
The 2016 Iowa’s Best Burger was found at The Chuckwagon Restaurant in Adair. The Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council, sponsors of the Iowa’s Best Burger contest, announced the winner on May 2. More
May is Beef Month
Governor Terry Branstad signed the May Beef Month proclamation in recognition of the importance of Iowa’s beef industry to the state’s economy. With nearly 3.95 million head of cattle on Jan. 1, 2016, Iowa is ranked ninth in the number of beef cows and 12th in the number of dairy cows. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://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 Friday.