Agri News, MN
06-26-07
Iowa statewide news and notes
ISU names Sprague, Frey endowed chairs
AMES, Iowa -- The Iowa State University Department of Agronomy has
named two new endowed chairs in the areas of crop genomics and biorenewable
crop research.
The George F. Sprague Endowed Chair will be filled by William Beavis, chief
science officer at the National Center for Genome Resources. Beavis will join the
Iowa State faculty in August.
Sprague is credited with discovering hybrid corn, and his Iowa Stiff Stalk
Synthetic is the germplasm foundation for many commercial corn hybrids. He
was a member of the Iowa State agronomy faculty from 1939 to 1958.
The Kenneth J. Frey Endowed Chair will be filled by Thomas Lubberstedt, senior
scientist at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Genetics
and Biotechnology. Lubberstedt will begin as chair in September.
Strip Tillage Expo in Waterloo July 31
WATERLOO, Iowa -- The Midwest Strip Tillage Expo will be held July 31 at
Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. The expo is presented by Iowa State
University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Wisconsin and
Hawkeye Community College.
The expo will feature field demonstrations by more than a dozen manufacturers
of strip tillage implements and auto-guidance systems. Vendor displays of other
strip tillage equipment will also be set up.
Indoor Edcation sessions will focus on crop and equipment management for strip
tillage.
'New Century Farm' will be built near Boone
AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University is creating the first integrated and
sustainable biofuel and bioproducts feedstock production system of its kind on a
research farm in Boone County.
The "ISU New Century Farm'' will be constructed west of the Agricultural
Engineering and Agronomy Research Farm, and will include harvest, storage,
transportation, handling and bioprocessing facilities.
Biomass crops destined for use as bioenergy and bioproducts will be grown on
the New Century Farm and other area ISU research farms.