In recognition of the ISRC’s 10^th anniversary in 2024, the center provided funding to the Iowa State University Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Department of Agronomy and Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology to host experts from outside the university as speakers for departmental seminars. Seminars were held during the spring and fall semesters to share information on timely topics with ISU faculty, students and staff.

In April, the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology hosted University of Nebraska’s Justin McMechan who provided an update on soybean gall midge research. More detail about Dr. McMechan’s visit to ISU can be found in the April ISRC newsletter. In September, the Department of Agronomy hosted a panel featuring Northeast Iowa farmer Tim Burrack, Heartland Coop Conservation Manager Ruth McCabe and Syngenta Crop Protection Field Development Regional Head Brett Miller who provided a lively discussion on the benefits and challenges of integrating conservation methods into farming practices. Additional information about this panel discussion can be found in the October ISRC newsletter.

In November, the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering hosted University of Illinois Professor Kaiyu Guan, who is well known for his work in agroecosystem sensing and modeling. Much of Guan’s research focuses on developing new modeling tools to improve accuracy and scaling (using scalable sensing) to predict agricultural outcomes on productivity and environmental impacts. He continues to revolutionize field-level modeling using satellite data and leveraging AI technology. Guan also spoke on the impacts of tile drainage. He developed a process-based agroecosystem called Ecosys that focuses on interactions between hydrology, biogeochemistry and plant growth to measure the impact on tile drainage and soil oxygen. His goal is to transform agricultural hydrology for use in sustainable agriculture production and healthy watersheds, thus improving water quality and quantity.

And in December, the Department of Agronomy hosted a visit with Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Mike Naig who discussed the tradeoffs of implementing conservation practices and how legislative policies may affect decisions by Iowa farmers.

Naig farms in Palo Alto County and is a proponent of no-till and traditional conservation practices such as cover crops, bioreactors, saturated buffers and preserving wetlands. He recommended, “Start small, try, get experience and then go bigger.” When implementing new conservation practices, he pointed out that incentives can also go a long way toward increasing conservation adoption by reducing risk through traditional cost-share programs. Naig told the audience that Iowa was the first state to allocate funds toward conservation efforts back in 1972 and how proud he is that Iowa continues to try to do even more by working with different ag commodity groups in leveraging state and federal resources.