Hello, CALS,
I hope you had a great weekend. The bits of rain we received were a welcome quench for some lawns and crops, but their distribution and need across the state varied greatly. It’s pretty amazing and concerning how we go so quickly from too much to too little rain/moisture, and back again, all within a few weeks. For those of you that follow such trends and especially their impact on crops and landscapes, consider the weekly Iowa Crop Progress and Condition Report by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. The most recent report includes some weather maps from last week. You can subscribe to receive this weekly newsletter that comes out each Monday afternoon.
Over the weekend, there was a celebration at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center for the 90th birthday of Al Christian, for whom our Allen E. Christian Swine Teaching Farm is named (see pictures below). Here are some summary notes from Jason Ross: “On Saturday, folks came from near and far to celebrate Al Christian’s 90th birthday. During his career, Al managed Iowa State’s swine teaching farm for more than 50 years, which was aptly named after him in 2011. During his time at Iowa State, Al became known not only for his ability to teach students about swine management but also for his great mentorship and ardent support of the many students he interacted with, which continued after their time on campus and throughout their careers. Several hundred of those he worked with over his career were in town to celebrate his birthday and the tremendous legacy he has created through those he worked with.”
Also over the weekend, a Celebration of Life took place at Reiman Gardens for M. Ali Tabatabai, who passed away at the age of 89 on Feb. 15, 2024. Tabatabai was an agronomy faculty member in soil chemistry from September 1972 to January 2013. The event was hosted by his wife, Louisa, who was an affiliate professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.
Last week, I attended an interesting roundtable with Jason Henderson, Jay Harmon and Iowa Economic Development Authority Director Debi Durham and her team on the potential for agri-tourism to further develop as a driver of rural economic development in our state. We also brainstormed how notions and applications of “sustainability” might be a further driving feature of economic development for the state. It was a really interesting conversation with her team and representatives of the agriculture sector. If you have thoughts about either of these topics, please send me a note and your ideas!
And I hope those of you who were able celebrated a very happy Father’s Day! My best for an excellent week - Dan
Scenes from CALS
A great group of people came to celebrate Al Christian's birthday last weekend, including current Swine Teaching Farm Manager Rydell Schott, and the McGonegle family - Pat ('83 animal science), Julie ('86 home economics education, DMJ adult home economics education) and their son, James, who is a current student in the Department of Statistics.
