A team of Iowa State University specialists has developed an online tool to help livestock and poultry producers compare odor-mitigation techniques. The Air Management Practices Assessment Tool is web-based, available at www.agronext.iastate.edu/ampat at no charge. “The website was developed to help livestock and poultry producers identify practices to reduce odors, and emissions of gases and …Continue reading “New tool evaluates odor reduction”
The Water Rocks! team had the privilege of sharing their expertise with educators and outreach professionals in Kansas City, MO, on Feb. 24-25. The day-and-a-half Summit was in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), at the EPA Region 7 headquarters. Water Rocks! is a statewide youth campaign to bring awareness and an appreciation of …Continue reading “Water Rocks! in Kansas City with the EPA”
Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences presented awards to faculty and staff February 5. Those awards included: The Early Advisor Award went to Jenny Macken, who is an adjunct advisor in agricultural and biosystems engineering. Jenny is an advisor and mentor to more than 250 students. One of her students describes her …Continue reading “ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recognizes outstanding ABE faculty and staff”
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has awarded grants to 17 innovative research and demonstration projects that promise to move agricultural production toward greater sustainability while improving Iowa’s soil and water resources. The research will provide new knowledge on soil health, specifically how phosphorus moves under different cropping systems and how certain changes deep below …Continue reading “CoE faculty grants funded by Leopold Center”
Energy costs may not be your largest expense on the farm, but it’s one that you can jump in on and make a fairly large impact without changing productivity, says Mark Hanna, Extension ag engineer at Iowa State University. He offers ideas for conserving fuel, including reduced tillage passes, shifting up, front-wheel assist and hybrid …Continue reading “Hanna offers tips for saving fuel, energy on the farm”
Hog producers use a great quantity of water, and in addition to water conservation being the environmentally correct thing to do, producers have a number of other reason to watch every drop they use in their operation. Daniel Andersen, Iowa State University assistant professor in the department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, talks swine operation …Continue reading “Water conservation adds up in swine operations”
A team of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach specialists have developed an online tool to help livestock and poultry producers compare odor mitigation techniques that could be useful on their farms. Air Management Practices Assessment Tool, AMPAT for short, is web-based and available at no charge at www.agronext.iastate.edu/ampat. “The website was developed to help …Continue reading “New tool evaluates options for reducing odors in livestock operations”
A new blog from Iowa State University professor Dan Andersen discusses topics pertaining to the science of manure. Andersen says he will be writing about how manure is handled, options for treatment, how to effectively use it as a fertilizer, potential environmental impact and new technologies being developed to improve manure use. The most recent …Continue reading “Andersen offers new “Manure Scoop” blog”
Bruce Barnhart is still playing catch up on land improvement work in his fields before winter starts. Barnhart, owner of Barnhart’s Custom Services, says there was very little winter land improvement done this past year due to the extremely cold weather. They started doing some of the winter work at the end of March. Then, …Continue reading “Helmers: Delayed harvest is slowing some land-improvement work”
The 15th annual Drainage Research Forum will be Nov. 18 at the Iowa State University Alumni Center on campus. Registration is at 8 a.m. and the program runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The forum provides results and updates on drainage research and farm projects by university and agency research leaders. It is jointly …Continue reading “15th annual Drainage Research Forum is Nov. 18”
Charles Hurburgh, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering Hurburgh, an expert on grain storage, said Iowa farmers may have dodged a freezing-cold bullet last weekend when the possibility of a frost didn’t pan out for the vast majority of cropland in the state. “We got lucky,” he said. “Most of Iowa was about one degree …Continue reading “MEDIA ADVISORY: ISU agriculture experts available to comment on 2014 harvest”
A set of nine bioreactors were installed this month at the ISU Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy Farm near Ames as part of an Iowa Nutrient Research Center-funded research project. The bioreactor research, led by ISU and the Iowa Soybean Association, was funded last year by the center at ISU.
Matthew Helmers (’95 civil engineering), associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, led the team that assessed nitrogen issues for the science assessment. “Our agricultural systems are important in Iowa but evaluating ways we can reduce downstream export of nutrients also is important,” Helmers says. “My interest is seeing agricultural systems implemented that are economically …Continue reading “River to river, water quality work found on many fronts”
Jay Harmon has been named the interim director for Iowa State University’s Iowa Pork Industry Center. Harmon, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and an extension livestock housing specialist, brings expertise in pork production systems to the position, which promotes efficient pork production technologies in Iowa. His goal is to increase awareness of the …Continue reading “Harmon named interim director of Iowa Pork Industry Center”
Exhibits at the ISU tent at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Aug. 26-28, will contain information related to best management practices for improving water quality and pest resistance, and information about ISU’s involvement in protecting crops against pest resistance and state efforts to improve water quality. Demonstration plots outside the tent will offer a …Continue reading “Talk about water quality and pest resistance management at Iowa State’s Farm Progress Show Exhibit”
