The ISU Extension and the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station recently kicked off the 72nd annual Research and Demonstration Farms Field Days at the Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm, located southwest of Nashua.

About 160 farmers, agribusiness professionals and university researchers attended, learning about topics ranging from nitrogen and weed management to soybean cyst nematodes.

Field days give farmers and the public a chance to see research projects in progress and talk with researchers involved in the experiments, as well as to view the latest in agriculture.

“Research and Demonstration Farms Field Days began in the early ’30s,” said Mark Honeyman, associate professor for the research farms.

Field days can be linked to the Seed Corn Gospel Trains that transported new seed corn technology to farmers in 1915, Honeyman said.

“Currently there are 16 research farms in Iowa,” Honeyman said. “Local nonprofit associations of farmers and business people own or lease 11 of the outlying research farms while Iowa State owns the other four.”

A long-term operating agreement exists between the nonprofit associations and Iowa State. Farm property tax stays in the local communities since Iowa State is tax-exempt, which is a major benefit for both the association-owned farms and the university, Honeyman said.

“The main reason producers attend the various Field Days is to acquire new information that will help them make better management decisions,” said Dave Haden, Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm superintendent.

To help increase the number of visitors, the farms are covering a wide variety of topics.

People can learn how to interpret weather information, farm organically, raise alligators and grow various plants in a garden, Haden said.

In addition to Field Days, home demonstration gardens have been cultivated for more than 20 years at the research and demonstration farms.

“Home gardeners are always interested in new cultural practices and different varieties of annuals and vegetables,” said Cynthia Haynes, assistant professor of horticulture.

To satisfy this growing need, eight research farms established a home demonstration garden and accompanying field day. In these gardens, different varieties of annuals and vegetables are grown for display and research purposes, Haynes said.