McNay Research and Demonstration Farm

Location

Lucas County

Directions: Go south 4 miles on Highway 65 from the intersection of highways 65 and 34, then 2.5 miles east on a gravel road and turn north .25 mile. The headquarters is on the east side of the road.

McNay Research Farm
45249 170th Avenue
Chariton, IA 50049

(641) 766-6465

click here for a map view

Size

1,968 acres

Owner

Iowa State University

Purebred Angus cattle at the McNay Farm are used for breeding, genetic, management, forage and reproduction research.

History

The farm was established by a donation of 480 acres in 1956 by Harry McNay and his sister, Winnie. Additional land acquisitions allowed researchers to broaden the scope of the research conducted.

Soils

What was once a plain has eroded to a series of irregular upland flats, flanked by gentle to steep slopes. The upland flats constitute about 20 percent of the land. Predominant soils are:

Haig:
level to sloping, very fine texture, poor drainage, occur primarily on upland flats.

Grundy:
2-7 percent slope, occur on upland slopes, fine texture.

Forage harvesting activities at the McNay Farm supply feed for beef cattle and provide information on managing southern Iowa’s soils.

Research and Demonstration

Cattle. Animal scientists conduct beef breeding, nutrition, reproduction, health and management studies. Researchers use a herd of 400 Angus cows and their offspring to develop specification lines of beef and to further develop the use of ultrasound to measure body composition. Researchers are using genetic and management systems to produce specification lines of beef for targeted domestic and international markets.

Forage. Researchers study yield and persistence of grasses, fertilizer requirements for hay and silage production, grazing management, intensive rotational grazing systems, pasture improvement, cool- and warm-season grass grazing systems and multi-species grazing (beef cattle and sheep). Researchers also conduct alfalfa variety trials and study methods for baling, binding and storing large round hay bales, year-around grazing system and stock-piled grazing.

Crops. Researchers evaluate reduced-tillage and reduced-chemical systems for controlling weeds and insects in corn and soybeans. Researchers also are evaluating systems of biomass production, measuring the energy values of crops for combustion and ethanol production. Tillage systems, strip-cropping and corn-breeding evaluation plots also are located on the farm.

Facilities

The farm includes a six-pen cattle feeding unit and an automated cattle-feeding unit capable of handling several large groups of beef cattle. Grazing paddocks support forage systems and predator control studies. The farm also has facilities for developing bulls and housing mature breeding bulls.