Northern Research and Demonstration Farm

Location

Kanawha, Hancock County

Directions: Just south of Kanawha on County Road R-35.

Northern Research Farm
310 S. Main Street
Kanawha, IA 50447

click here for a map view

Size

173 acres

Owner

North Central Iowa Research Association

Association President

Dennis Schwab
340 190th Street
Corwith, IA 50430

History

The North Iowa Experimental Association, the oldest in Iowa, was formed in 1930 and purchased 93 acres. The Clarion-Webster Experimental Association was formed in 1952 and purchased 80 acres. In 1995, the two associations merged.

Superintendent

David Rueber
(641) 762-3247 office and FAX

Agro-Climatic Zone

North Central Iowa

Soils

Terrain is gently sloping, broken by a rectangular gridwork of roads and fields. Much of the land is drained by tile systems and open ditches because the land has poor natural drainage. Predominant soils are:

Clarion:
2-5 percent slope, very well drained, occurs on upland slopes

Nicollet:
1-3 percent slope, poorly drained, occurs between uplands and low areas

Webster:
0-3 percent slope, poorly drained, occurs on low-lying uplands

Research

Crops. The farm is a site for small grains variety tests, corn and specialty soybean breeding, studies of nitrogen fertilization rates and timing on corn and for breeding soybeans with resistance to soybean cyst nematode. Researchers conduct extensive tests on corn and soybean herbicides.

Soils. Researchers study soil fertility and soil management systems. Agronomists study nutrient requirements of area crops and apply nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and lime to observe crop yield response to the nutrients.

Facilities

The farm has an extensive system of tile lines. A home garden for vegetable production is used for demonstrations and a weed garden helps teach producers to identify and control weeds common to the area.