Message from the Dean - June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Hello, CALS,

Summer solstice and hot days this weekend! Hope you stayed hydrated! Please always do when out in the heat and the sun - check out these helpful hydration tips from OSHA.

Last week we hosted the 12-state regional Mini Land-Grant Conference, where college leadership and private citizens supporting land-grant colleges of agriculture from across the region gathered, as they do each year in a different place, to talk about what makes the land-grant system of support for agriculture and related sciences so important, and to encourage continued and enhanced federal support. The meeting this summer was especially important in these regards. CALS Associate Dean for Research and Discovery Danny Singh organized the conference, along with a planning team from Iowa State and other institutions from across the region, with expert help from CALS’ Angie Weeks, Darwin Campbell, Alison Parker and Allegra Selzer. It was a great success. As part of that meeting, we had invited Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Secretary Mike Naig to speak or send this very excellent short video message that really speaks to the connections our college has with that agency (and see picture and reference to the same below).

You may have heard some hay bales at the ISU Dairy Farm caught fire last Friday during the early morning hours. Thanks to the quick actions of local fire departments and the dairy farm staff, the fire was contained within the hoop building where the bales were being stored. As of this morning (June 23), Rusty Burgett, animal science farms director, reported that the fire hadn't flared up since Sunday morning, which was just three small spots. Today, they're focusing on covering the salvaged hay to protect it from this week's anticipated rain.

Tomorrow, June 24, at 5:30 p.m., spend a little extra time on campus at the end of the day and join University Museums for Hive Mind Inspirations: Agronomy at Iowa State.

Have a terrific week, and please let me know what you’re thinking! - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Three men standing on a grassy lawn with livestock buildings in the background.
On a sunny day at the ISU Dairy Farm, Rusty Burgett, assistant professor of practice and animal science farms director, Warren Brooks, dairy farm manager, and Mark Wuebker, agricultural specialist with Iowa State research farms, paused for a quick photo.
Group of people sitting around a table inside a college campus dining facility.
Representatives from ISU Dining and the Horticulture Research Station met recently to discuss opportunities to expand collaboration between the two facilities for supply of fresh produce for ISU Dining. Pictured are (left to right): Ajay Nair (Horticulture Research Station), Ryan McGowan (ISU Dining), Karen Rodekamp (ISU Dining), Terrasa Mouw-Grewell (ISU Dining), Chloe Henscheid (Horticutlure Research Station), and Mary Schott (ISU Dining).
Large building with mirrored windows under a cloudy sky.
The Wallace Building in Des Moines across from the Capitol has served as the home of the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Iowa DNR and will soon be empty and torn down. Those agencies (so important to CALS) are moving across the Capitol area to the Hoover Building. Both Wallace and Hoover are icons of Iowa, and they would have surely known each other. In the college we often celebrate Wallace, but Hoover is less well known to us. Although he did not have a direct connection to Iowa State and CALS (so far as I know), he was a champion for food security and worth recognizing and knowing about. There is lots of information on both men with a quick web search: Here’s a history about Henry A. Wallace from the Department of Animal Science and An Uncommon Man from the Wallace Centers of Iowa. Here are two things specific to Hoover and his role in food security: American Hunger Heroes: Herbert Hoover and Food as Power: Herbert Hoover's Theory of Using Food Supply to Create Global and National Stability.