The future of an $80 million endowment to assist in teaching, research and outreach recently has been decided and will be applied.

The endowment was given by an anonymous source in the fall of 1999 and after a long process, four initiatives have been developed to direct the money this fall.

The four initiatives are the Global Agricultural Science and Policy Institute, the Excellence in Agronomic Education and Extension, Integrated Approaches to Plant Improvement and Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems, said Susan Thompson, College of Agriculture communications specialist.

The purpose of the Global Agricultural Science and Policy Institute is to study how local and global agricultural interests affect one another, according to a press release.

The Excellence in Agronomic Education and Extension is a life-long learning program for farmers, faculty and students. The purpose of this program is to facilitate student and farmer’s knowledge throughout the state, said Lee Burras, initiative coordinator for excellence in agronomic education and extension.

Last year, some funding went to technology enhancement labs, including the purchase of 20 laptop computers that have infrared connection so they can be used in any classroom. This way, professors don’t have to use the computer labs for certain classes, Burras said.

One proposal made for next year includes outcome assessment that would measure how successful the program is in teaching students and farmers. In addition, future proposals include research and extension projects in soil organic matter and projects dealing with how the program delivers knowledge to farmers, he said.

The extension program holds county meetings at which different agronomy professors speak.

“We use this money to help student education and farmer extension,” Burras said. “We look at where we are now and how we can get better with the program.”

The third initiative, the Integrated Approaches to Plant Improvement, is only in the development stage, said Charlie Brummer, associate professor of plant breeding and coordinator for the project.

The purpose of this program is to improve the quality of food, maintain better environmental sound production and to make crops more profitable for farmers, he said.

“We pull people together from different disciplines who don’t really work together, but should,” Brummer said.

A variety of crops are being improved, including corn and soybeans. He said the program will also focus on plants that haven’t been looked at in the past by anyone, such as triticale wheat.

“This is an excellent opportunity,” Brummer said. “We have a lot of money to do things we otherwise couldn’t do. Our goal is to further excellence in plant improvement and to do something different than what has been done in the past.”

This program will help make sure Iowa’s agriculture system is secure and productive for the future and for other people, he said.

Integrated Studies of Agroecosystems will look at how landscapes, farms, wooded areas and stream banks function as a unit, not just a field producing corn, said Gene Takle, professor of agronomy and geological and atmospheric sciences. Studies will include characteristics of soil, loss of nutrients and pesticides, he said.

“We are just getting projects and programs in place,” Takle said.

“We will be looking at how to design agricultural systems that are productive, yet environmentally friendly.”

Two big projects in this program are the simulation lab, which will study climate, and a long-term research facility, Takle said. The farm would study a variety of agroecosystem projects.

“This is wonderful for the donor to give money to the campus,” Burras said, “And I hope we are doing better because of it.”