150 Points of Pride

The Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a proud and distinguished history. As part of Iowa State's sesquicentennial celebration, 150 points of pride related to the College - accomplishments, discoveries, contributions, highlights, famous and interesting people - will be posted here. These postings will coincide with 150 days of the 2007-2008 academic year, beginning Aug. 20, 2007 and ending May 2, 2008, with time off for the Thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks. Check back each Monday for five new items.

Midwest Plan Service

The Midwest Plan Service (MWPS) is housed in Davidson Hall on the Iowa State campus. Established in 1929 and publishing since 1933, MWPS was the first regional entity in the United States to distribute research information and building plans. Over the years, MWPS has evolved into a cooperative effort of 13 land grant universities that provides educational materials to a wide variety of disciplines. In addition to meeting its historical goal of providing information about issues related to agricultural engineering, MWPS areas of expertise include livestock production, farm business management, crop production, issues related to environmental stewardship and improvement of the quality of rural life. These publications provide a vehicle to publish research findings and facilitate technology transfer in formats useful to public and semi-technical audiences. Authors of MWPS publications identify new issues, concepts and technologies, then translate them into educational materials used by a variety of individuals, including educators, agricultural producers, agribusiness professionals, homeowners, landowners, conservationists and municipal planners.

Fast fact: To date, more than 2 million agricultural building plans and 1

ISU Agricultural Endowment

The ISU Agricultural Endowment is a private, nonprofit corporation. It was founded in 1937 through the efforts of Clifton R. Musser. Musser was chairman of the board of the Muscatine Bank and Trust Company. Working with Iowa State President Charles Friley and Dean of Agriculture H.H. Kildee, Musser laid the groundwork for what was originally called the Iowa State College Agricultural Foundation. In 1938, he donated nine Iowa farms to Iowa State and $100,000. In 1942, he donated another three farms. The Agricultural Foundation leased the farms to families. Many of the farmers had extensive research projects, some done in cooperation with Iowa State faculty and others developed by the Foundation’s staff and trustees. At one point, 18 farms totaling nearly 5,500 acres were owned and managed by the Agricultural Foundation. By the 1980s, the Board of Trustees determined a broader approach was required to support Iowa agriculture. The Agricultural Foundation began to sell its land holdings and endow the assets to create a resource for scholarships, grants and other support for programs in agricultural education, research and outreach. Since 1996, the Endowment has provided $840,000 for more than 1,120 scholarships and internships to ISU students, plus $115,000 to advance programs benefiting Iowa State and the State of Iowa. It also supports the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Science With Practice program, which helps students learn in labs, fields and offices with faculty mentors while earning course credit and a paycheck.

Fast fact: Today, the ISU Agricultural Endowment is a major contributor for student education, providing one-quarter of the scholarships awarded annually by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Committee for Agricultural Development

The Committee for Agricultural Development (CAD) was established as a nonprofit corporation in 1943, after approval by the Iowa Board of Education. CAD’s mission is to produce seed originating from the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station; to distribute germplasm and other research products to the public; and to acquire and maintain adequate land for current and future needs of the Experiment Station and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Over the last few decades, land in and near Ames that was previously devoted to agricultural research has slowly been developed for other uses by the university, the city and a growing community. That has required new or additional land to maintain ISU’s strong agricultural programs. A good example of how CAD works can be seen in the development of ISU’s new dairy farm. CAD purchased 887 acres south of Ames in May 2005 for $6.25 million. Using proceeds from the sale of the ISU Ankeny Farm, Iowa State bought the land from CAD for the purchase price in November 2005. And with proceeds from other land sales, CAD also provided a $1 million grant to help establish the new dairy facility.

Fast fact: In 2006, the Committee for Agricultural Development paid $58,184 in property taxes in Story and Boone counties.

Iowa Crop Improvement Association

Iowa Crop Improvement Association (ICIA) is a nonprofit organization that has been designated as the official seed-certifying agency for the State of Iowa. The organization was first formed in 1902 and was renamed Iowa Crop Improvement Association in 1950 following the merger of several other agricultural organizations. ICIA has been providing Iowa with quality, unbiased seed production services and crop performance testing services since 1920. Seed production services include field inspection, laboratory testing and labeling of seed for both domestic and international markets. The association currently certifies corn, oat, soybean, wheat and over 150 native species. The crop performance tests are conducted annually to provide unbiased, third-party information that farmers and industry representatives need to select the best varieties or brands for their production conditions. This program is a cooperative effort between ICIA, the Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station and Iowa State University Extension. Information on the adaptation and performance of hybrids and varieties are currently offered for alfalfa, barley, corn, oat, soybean and wheat. ICIA financially supports the Iowa State University Crops Team, sponsors the Iowa FFA Agronomy Career Development event, funds an ISU Graduate Fellowship in Seed Science, offers a summer internship program and awards five undergraduate scholarships.

Fast fact: ICIA is the second seed certification agency in the United States to receive ISO 9001: 2000 certification. The certification is used by the agricultural industry to ensure quality in the services and products companies provide. ICIA received certification after an auditing process in 2007.

Plant Introduction Station

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station is the leading national plant germplasm system for management of genetically diverse, cross-pollinated crops and their wild relatives. The NCRPIS, established in Ames in 1948, is one of four plant introduction stations in the United States. Its mission is to acquire, document and maintain plant materials, store seeds under good conditions to preserve their viability, and make available and enhance a broad spectrum of germplasm and associated information for research, crop improvement and product development. The NCRPIS stores more than 1,700 plant species and 48,000 different plant populations in climate-controlled refrigerators and freezers, including many important field and vegetable crops. It also stores the U.S. corn collection, including about 18,000 different types or accessions, as well as other collections such as the national sunflower, canola, cucumber, muskmelon, squash, amaranth, medicinal plant and ornamental collections. The NCRPIS provides plant materials at no cost to researchers and educators and distributes up to 25 percent of its holdings each year.

Fast fact: Since 1954, NCRPIS researchers have coordinated one of the nation’s longest-standing collaborative programs to evaluate promising, new woody landscape plants. The program conducts long-term evaluations of trees, shrubs and vines at about 30 sites.

*Some historic photographs courtesy of the University Archives.

150 Points of Pride Archives