The end of June saw five professors with a combined 127 years of experience leave the ISU agricultural and biosystems engineering department.

Two of them, Jeff Lorimor, who has been with Iowa State for 22 years, and James Baker, with the university for 31 years, retired Wednesday.

Both Lorimor and Baker, professors of agricultural and biosystems engineering, have impacted their field. They have studied the effects manure, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers have on air, water and soil, trying to make improvements in all those areas.

“We have had a respect to the environment while trying to enhance crop and livestock production,” Baker said.

Lorimor arrived at Iowa State after farming proved to be unprofitable, comparable to many other farmers’ experiences during the ’80s, he said.

Baker, who had a farm and ranch background and majored in chemistry, ended up working at Iowa State when the department needed someone with an agriculture and chemistry background to do research on pesticides and nutrients.

Lorimor said he believes his farming background has helped him tremendously in his work.

“I think I’ve brought a lot of practicality to farming because I have brought the perspective of the producer,” Lorimor said.

Lorimor said he has spent most of his time educating producers on how to do a good job by following rules and regulations.

Baker has spent the majority of his time working to understand the transport and fate of agricultural chemicals.

“Even though we don’t have all the answers, we know what we might do, and we haven’t done some things that wasted time, money and effort,” Baker said.

There is still much work to be done in both fields, Baker and Lorimor both said. More research needs to be done on watersheds, water management, drainage systems and other areas, Baker said.

More education needs to be done so producers can do a better job controlling manure runoff, Lorimor said.

The two have seen change at Iowa State during their combined 53 years.

The changing and doubling of the student population and increases in tuition have been a part of the landscape over the years for Baker, he said. The most visible part for him, he said, has been budget cuts.

Baker said faculty have felt pressure to get their own money to do their research.

Lorimor said his co-workers are a big part of what he’ll miss after leaving Iowa State.

“The main part of Iowa State is the people,” Lorimor said. “I still perceive them as diligent, loyal and hardworking.”

Both are going to continue working, doing some part-time consulting for private companies.