Matt Helmers, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, has been named director of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center. The center funds research by scientists at Iowa State, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa to address nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient losses to surface waters.
Hongwei Xin has been named the new assistant dean for research in CALS. Xin, a Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor who holds the Iowa Egg Council Endowed Professorship in the agricultural and biosystems engineering and animal science departments, Xin was named to the newly created position effective April 1. He will focus on the promotion …Continue reading “Agricultural engineering and animal science professor named CALS Assistant Dean for Research”
Helmers: Iowa has the methods to do it; but it will take public funds Dr. Matt Helmers, an Iowa State University agriculture and biosystems engineering professor, spoke with members of the ag committee of the Greater Fort Dodge Growth Alliance Feb. 4, outlining the challenges of farming’s impact of grain farming on water quality and …Continue reading “Helmers: Keeping nitrates on the farm”
Scientists often take many roads that lead to progress. For Iowa State University’s water quality research, an important path has gone through Gilmore City, Iowa. A farm just outside the north-central Iowa town is home to Iowa State University’s Agriculture Drainage Research and Demonstration Site, a facility that has been working to further Iowa State …Continue reading “Nation’s premier site for water quality science drives progress”
Matt Helmers, an Iowa State University biological system engineer, said studies show crops in a corn-soybean rotation grown without applied nitrogen fertilizer also lose nitrates, although it’s about 40 to 50 percent less than when fertilizer is applied. Iowa loses nitrates — naturally found in the state’s rich organic soil — to its waterways with …Continue reading “Helmers: How do we fix Iowa’s nitrate problem?”
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.
