The ISRC hosted a Summer Field Tour on August 5, 2025, for 15 participants, which included visits to Wyffels Hybrids located east of Ames and the Alliant Energy Solar Farm at ISU located south of Ames. The Field Tours offer ISU researchers opportunities to explore and learn about a variety of agricultural industries and farming operations that exist outside their lab experiences. 

Wyffels provided a tour of their new warehouse and distribution center, which opened in July 2024. The site also includes research and agronomy test plots. ISU Extension also had demonstration plots at this location during the 2025 growing season.

Then, the group toured the 10-acre Alliant Energy Solar Farm at ISU led by ISRC faculty research affiliate Matt O’Neal, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology. The public-private partnership between ISU and Alliant Energy provides an opportunity to grow crops on a commercial scale in and around photvoltaic panels. The four-year project, funded by a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, is in its second year. The study is proving successful for growing certain vegetables and fruits, such as peppers and berries.