Iowa State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service signed a 20-year agreement on April 27 to fund a new $9.6 million swine research center designed to study the problems of the pork industry.

The National Swine Research and Information Center will bring together a collaborative research team that will focus on developing new approaches to reducing hog odor while enhancing feed efficiency and growth.

The new facility will house eight faculty members from the Department of Agriculture and Biosystems and one faculty member from the Department of Animal Science.

Jerry Hatfield, the director of the National Swine Center, said these staffers already are getting ready to move into the facility, which also will be home to many USDA researchers.

“We are in the process of recruiting scientists and setting the labs,” he said. “That’s the biggest part, and that is happening as we speak. We are trying to get things done as quickly as possible.”

David Topel, dean of the College of Agriculture, said the swine center will be a huge benefit for pork research in the Midwest.

“This new center allows Iowa State and other Midwestern universities to be major contributors to cutting edge research for the swine industry,” Topel said.

The 52,000-square-foot facility was finished in 1998 but has stood vacant after federal budget cuts last year left the USDA without the funding to operate the facility.

The university considered moving the entire Department of Agriculture and Biosystems into the new facility. However, the USDA was able to get another million dollars to fund the research, leaving room for only nine university faculty.

“The [current] facilities in Davidson [Hall] are very obsolete, and this provides new facilities for a high-quality research team. This will greatly expand research and make a much stronger program,” Topel said.

Topel said the USDA researchers and the university will be able to collaborate on new research in water quality, animal welfare and environmental issues.

The center also will be working in conjunction with the National Soil Tilth Laboratory on much of its research.