1960's
FEBRUARY 1960
“Surplus corn for alcohol”
Lionel K. Arnold, professor of chemical engineering was supportive of the use of corn alcohol as an additive to gasoline. Arnold argued that using corn alcohol can be used successfully in gasoline and would use up a lot of surplus corn. Though at this time introducing corn alcohol would not be feasible because it would raise the cost of gasoline. Arnold said that a bushel of corn could produce 2 ½ gallons of 95% alcohol.
JANUARY 1961
“Subsoiling Doesn’t Pay in the Midwest”
W.E. Larons, V.C. Jamison, soil scientists, and W.G. Lovely, agricultural engineer shared some research results about subsoil tillage. The results of the studies showed that subsoiling alone resulted in no meaningful change in corn production. Subsoilng at 24 inches actually decreased corn production.
SEPTEMBER 1962
“Iowa State’s ‘closed’ Dairy Herd”
A Holstein herd was closed to outside blood for about 30 years. The project was started by J.Lush in 1930 and was supervised by him until its completion. The 30 year study was mainly to measure genetic gain through selection. Results showed that selection increased genetic superiority by about 1.5% per year on average. The scientists speculated that artificial insemination could increase genetic superiority by a larger margin because selection could be more controlled.
NOVEMBER 1963
“Need for Resource Management Declines”
The Iowa Cooperative Extension Service was created to increase knowledge about problem areas in agriculture. One area they were very concerned with was the management of natural resources. In 1963 the Extension Service was proud to report that the need for this sort of knowledge has rapidly decreased due to previous efforts and farmers’ interest in this subject.
AUGUST 1964
“Extension Service reaches over 6 million people”
Since it’s birth the ISU Extension service has been extremely helpful to the Iowan as well as other Midwesterners. The extension service reported that in 1963 it had contact via individual and group meetings, mass media, and other publications with nearly 7 million people.
FEBRUARY 1965
“ISU’s College of Ag in South America”
Personnel from the Iowa State University College of Agriculture were sent to South American countries to serve as teachers. They taught farming methods, mechanical repair, and livestock rearing methods. The goal of this project was to help South American countries in the same way The Iowa State Extension Services helps the people of Iowa, by sharing expert information that will help agricultural production.
MAY 1966
“ISU changes the internal temperature requirement for pork”
Research at Iowa State University proved that the old 185-degree internal temperature for pork products was unnecessary. The tests took 10 years but finally showed that an internal temperature of 170 degrees is the new standard. An oven temperature of 325 degrees was recommended.
APRIL 1967
“Control Erosion From Row Cropping”
The use of Iowa farmland was rapidly changing. A reduction in dairying and an emphasis on row crops had created an erosion problem in the state of Iowa. W.C. Moldenhauer and M. Amemiya, soil scientists, explained some immediate techniques that could be employed to reduce erosion-induced loss. Terracing and Zone Tillage were a couple of solutions the scientists offered.
FEBRUARY 1968
“Egg Shell Strength Tester Developed at ISU”
A new aid to nutritional and management studies was developed at Iowa State University poultry scientists. The tester used principles of dynamic or gradual loading. A weight was then shifted along an inclined plain to provide increasing pressure, the machine then stopped at first visible sight of egg breakage. Distance traveled was recorded and actual force then calculated.
MAY 1969
“ISU Develops a Method for Combating Trichinosis in Swine”
The “pooled sample method” developed ay ISU allowed the swine industry to virtually eliminate the trichina, a nematode worm that invades the muscle tissue of swine, man, and many other animals. This new test developed by ISU is five times more sensitive than previous tests. The estimated cost for the test was 10 cents per head.
