A decades-old tradition for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences kicks off on campus this week.

Monday, Oct. 7 is the first day of CALS Week. All festivities are open to everyone. 

“CALS Week is important because Iowa State is one of the premier agriculture leaders in the nation, as well as the world,” said Brent Sexton, co-chairman of CALS Week and senior in animal science. “It’s important to have a strong CALS Week because it’s symbolic of a strong college, which we definitely have.”

This year’s theme is “The Year of the Farmer,” pertaining to the popular Super Bowl Ram commercial that played in February 2013.

CALS Week had a jumpstart to the coming festivities last Saturday and Sunday with tours of the student-run farm outside of campus by Agriculture 450 students. The farms mainly focus on swine, corn and beans.

T-shirts will be for sale throughout CALS Week. Long- and short-sleeved shirts will be available and will be in a variety of colors with a green “The Year of the Farmer” graphic. Prices have yet to be determined.

Penny Wars, the first activity of CALS Week, begins on Monday. Penny Wars will last throughout the entire week and is between each club in the College of Agriculture.

“The club with the most [money] at the end of Penny Wars will get to choose which charity they want the money to go to,” said Bailey Morrell, co-chairwoman of CALS Week and senior in agricultural studies.

Food will also be served on Central Campus each day of the week. A tent will be stationed between the Campanile and Curtiss Hall.

“Quite honestly, a vast majority of the university students will be excited about the food,” Morrell said. “We use that opportunity as a way to introduce people to the agricultural world. The kids in the university who aren’t any sort of an agriculture-type major don’t really get that exposure, and so we use the free food as an opportunity to educate them and have a little fun.”

Tuesday, Oct. 8 is Future Farmers of America Day and a networking opportunity called the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative Round Table.

“We asked the CALS Ambassadors to help create a program for FFA kids of all chapters across Iowa, so they could come and experience Iowa State,” Morrell said. “The kids will start out with a welcoming session and then break out in campus tours, as well as [student-run] farm tours.”

FFA kids will then finish out their time at Iowa State with lunch on campus.

For the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative Round Table event, students will meet and network with industry representatives. It will take place at 6 p.m. in 004 Scheman Building.

On Wednesday, Oct. 9, students can attend the William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture, which features Howard Hill, and a dance on the terrace of the Memorial Union.

The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Hill is the director of animal wellbeing for Iowa Select Farms, an Iowa-based pork production company.

After being asked to host a speaker this year, the William K. Deal lecture series will also host a speaker for future CALS Weeks. This lecture series was established to help prepare future leaders and innovators in the field of agriculture.

The dance, which was funded by the Government of the Student Body, will begin at 8:30 p.m., and admission is one canned food item. This is the first year the CALS Week team has initiated this “fee.”

“Alpha Zeta does a yearly canned food drive that usually takes place around CALS Week,” Morrell said. “This will help promote their food drive.”

The current plan for all the collected canned goods for both CALS Week and Alpha Zeta is to add them together. All donations will be given to Iowa State’s The SHOP.

“We did a lot of outsourcing this year,” Morrell said. “That’s one thing that hasn’t been done in past years. We’re trying to include as many people as possible.”

The biggest event on campus will be the Machinery Show on Thursday, Oct. 10. Small farm equipment from local dealers will be on-site between Kildee Hall and Lagomarcino Hall, as well as in front of Davidson Hall.

Also on Thursday, Dance Marathon will be performing “The Morale Dance” on Central Campus.

On Friday, Oct. 11, the band Backroad Anthem will be playing at at 8 p.m. at Charlie Yokes to wrap up CALS Week. There are 150 tickets for sale at $10 each throughout the week. If tickets sell out, admission will be taken at the door.

The concert will be a non-alcoholic event.

“The students involved [with CALS Week] look forward to it,” Sexton said. “There are a lot of fun events going on, and there’s a lot of pride being in agriculture. It’s a good time to be in this industry and we really enjoy it.”