Message from the Dean - April 6, 2026

April 6, 2026

Hello, CALS, and happy Monday,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Plenty of big rain and then beautiful sunshine on Sunday! I spoke with a farmer last week who was beginning to worry about sufficient surface soil moisture for good germination in the coming planting season. Unless it gets really hot and dry, now it seems that concern has gone away this weekend, at least in central Iowa.

Last week was busy with lots of things, including a meeting of the AgState group and the annual Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Secretary's Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner. This week, as we rush toward graduation, includes the annual Iowa Youth Institute of the World Food Prize Foundation on Wednesday, April 8, that our college is central to, and the annual BBMB Stupka Undergraduate Research Symposium on Thursday, April 9 and Friday, April 10.  

We've been making excellent progress toward fundraising for a new beef cattle facility, further support of the Uganda program, scholarships and much more. Our ISU Foundation development group in the college is going flat-out on these and many, many other fundraising efforts. And those people in the college linked to federal and corporate partnerships to support our activities are also running at top speed.

Speaking of fundraising, last week's Forever True Day 24-hour fundraising event generated $84,547 from 320 donors for CALS, surpassing last year’s total of $72,735 from 316 donors. CALS ranked second among all colleges in donor participation, reflecting broad and meaningful engagement from the CALS community. Donor generosity was further amplified through $6,945 in gifts that were matched dollar for dollar, maximizing the impact of support for CALS students, programs and priorities.

The White House just released the President’s Budget Request (PBR), which will now be considered by Congress. There are many similarities between this PBR and last year's. View the APLU CGA FY2027 Appropriations Priorities (PDF) for further details.

My very best for a great week. - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Group of people holding a ribbon about to be cut.
Last week at the ISU Research Park, the ribbon cutting for Bayer's Seed Production Innovation Center, which will provide terrific new opportunities to grow the college's longstanding partnership with the company!
Person standing behind a podium speaking.
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Secretary Mike Naig presiding at the annual Ag Leaders Dinner event for the state, at which he introduced ISU President David Cook, who made remarks. The event also featured Governor Reynolds, the historical podcaster Lindsay Graham, with awards given to Governor Reynolds, the Great Outdoors Foundation, and the America Needs Farmers organization at the University of Iowa. The annual event draws about 1,000 attendees, and CALS is well represented!
Four astronauts inside a space shuttle in orbit.
Artemis 2 NASA astronaut Victor Glover, far right, giving a most meaningful holiday message to all this weekend, including reference to the spaceship Earth we're all on, and our need to care for ourselves on it. That's CALS work. The message was shared during an interview with CBS News on April 4.