Since 1984, the Cochran Fellowship Program has been bringing foreign agricultural professionals to the US for technical training, networking and a greater understanding of the US agricultural sector in general. The program, which is sponsored by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, is geared toward agricultural professionals from “middle income countries, emerging markets and emerging democracies.” …Continue reading “Cochran Fellows visit CALS, ABE”
With the wide variety of farming operations and soil types in the Midwest, farmers need to answer a few important questions when contemplating manure fertilizer: When are the best times of the year to apply and what are the key factors in this decision? Dan Andersen, assistant professor in agricultural engineering at Iowa State University, who …Continue reading “Andersen: Timing, nutrients, environment factor into fertilizing decisions”
When he began his adventure at Iowa State University, Joe Vanstrom was a student looking for a way to get more hands-on in the engineering field. He found his calling in the industrial technology program and received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the discipline. Now, he has returned to campus as a lecturer in the agricultural and biosystems engineering department.
Charles Hurburgh, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, director of Iowa State University’s grain quality initiative and a member of the food safety alliance, reports that ISU is working toward becoming an FSMA training center, and he’s anticipating that among the offerings will be an ethanol-industry-specific training course.
“Change the furnace filter and have the furnace checked by a professional technician for proper operation,” Iowa State University Ag Engineering Specialist Greg Brenneman said.
Tighter economic conditions will require a new examination of what iron is in your shed and how much it’s impacting your bottom line. Mark Hanna, Extension agricultural engineer at Iowa State University, says with each machinery need, these questions should be asked: Why do I need it? What do I want it to do? And what …Continue reading “5 ways farmers hold the line on equipment costs”
In October, the Digital Repository at Iowa State University passed a significant milestone: the 50,000th item was added to the repository. The Digital Repository provides free, public access to research, scholarship, and creative works produced by faculty, students and staff at Iowa State. Some of the 50,000+ items in the repository include: Over 650 journal articles …Continue reading “Digital Repository @ Iowa State University: A noteworthy milestone reached”
Charles Hurburgh, an Iowa State University agricultural and biosystems engineering professor, said Iowa typically has piles of corn across the state. But they don’t last long, given the state’s massive need for grain — from raising cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys to producing ethanol. He estimates Iowa wouldn’t have space for about 400 million bushels of …Continue reading “Record crops + low prices = mountains of grain”
Technology developed at Iowa State University and licensed to John Deere will receive three innovation awards at one of the world’s most prestigious agricultural technology conventions next week. The three innovation “Silver Medal” awards will be presented at AGRITECHNICA 2015, a global showcase of ag machinery in Hannover, Germany, set to run November 10-14. The …Continue reading “ISU-licensed tech wins big at international ag expo”
Now is the time to cool your stored grain, according to Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Agricultural Engineer Kris Kohl. In the past couple of weeks with temperatures in the 60s, a lot of corn and soybeans went into storage. With grain this warm, Kohl says moisture migration within the grain mass and spoilage can …Continue reading “Kohl: Cooling grain in storage”
Original post by Mark Hanna and Dana Schweitzer A new publication, Farm Energy: Case Studies – Techniques to improve tractor energy efficiency and fuel savings (PM 3063D), is now available for download in the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Store. This publication is part of the Farm Energy: Case Study series and outlines ways …Continue reading “Publication offers solution to improve tractor efficiency and cut fuel cost”
ISU ag and biosystems engineering professor Hongwei Xin has compared three housing systems—traditional cages, cage-free barns and a sort of compromise system called enriched colonies, which some California producers have adopted. In those, hens live in groups of about 60 birds together. In his research, Xin has found the most hens die in a cage-free setting.
Ritter’s soybeans were harvested mostly at 8-9 percent moisture. This hypothetically trims about 50 cents from the $9 he might get from selling a bushel of soybeans, according to Charles Hurburgh, ag and biosystems engineering faculty and director of Iowa State University’s Grain Quality Initiative.
Original post by Liz Juchems. The next regular monthly Iowa Learning Farms webinar will be Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m. This month’s presenter is Brian Gelder, Iowa State University associate scientist in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. His presentation will discuss updates to the Iowa Daily Erosion Project to Version 2 as …Continue reading “Webinar on Iowa Daily Erosion Project, featuring Brian Gelder”
Originally posted on the Pork Network. Grain is quickly coming out of the fields this fall, with 92 percent of soybeans and 73 percent of corn harvested in Iowa as of Oct. 26, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Since much of it has been harvested and put into the bin at 60 …Continue reading “Brenneman on grain storage: core it, cool it, store it”
