AMES, Iowa — The oldest Iowa State University research farm has a new superintendent.
Micah Smidt has been named superintendent of the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm in Kanawha. He replaces David Rueber who retired, after working at the farm since 1977 and serving as its superintendent since 1987.
Smidt earned a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Iowa State in 2010. He has worked most recently as an agricultural research specialist with ISU's on-farm research program, called FARM, and was previously a crop consultant in north central Iowa.
Smidt is the sixth superintendent at the farm since it opened in 1931. He will supervise 35 research projects on the farm, which hosts 1,000 visitors annually, and will continue to coordinate on-farm research in north central Iowa.
The farm is owned by the North Central Iowa Research Association, which partners with Iowa State to conduct site-specific agricultural research related to crops and soils.