The Humboldt County Farm Bureau recently donated $5,000 to support the $850,000 capital campaign to construct a new, multi-use building to house the farm offices, flex space for meetings and demonstrations, handicap-accessible restrooms, a small kitchenette and a shop.

“The building is up, and we are starting the finishing work on the office and board room,” said Doug Adams, a Humboldt County Farm Bureau director..“We have received and are continuing to apply for grants. We appreciate the Humboldt County Farm Bureau’s support of this project.”

Located just south of Kanawha, the 173-acre research farm regularly hosts field days in conjunction with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Extension specialists from agronomists to climatologists share the latest, science-based research on soybean and corn production, weed management and more.

“We need more usable space for larger equipment that’s more conducive to research,” said Research Farm Superintendent Matt Schnabel. “We’d also like more people to visit the farm and want to provide adequate space for educational programs focused on agriculture and the environment.”

The current capital campaign is spearheaded by the North Central Iowa Research Association, which owns the research farm. This non-profit group includes nearly 70 farmers, ag businesses and landowners across north-central Iowa. NCIRA is guided by a 19-member board of directors.

“We launched this capital campaign after we re-assessed the future of the research farm a few years ago,” said Greg Guenther, NCIRA president and north-central Iowa farmer. “With the increased size of modern farm equipment and advances in digital agriculture, we felt a larger shop, large classroom and new office complex are important to help support the farm’s mission of sharing research results that help boost farm profitability.”

The Northern Research and Demonstration Farm is unique among the various research farms across Iowa. While ISU scientists have conducted research at facilities in and around Ames and central Iowa for decades, the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm is the oldest outlying research association in Iowa.

In the early 1930s, leaders of American Crystal Sugar approached Charles Curtiss, dean of Iowa State’s College of Agriculture and director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, about the need for research on sugar beets to support farmers in northern Iowa.

The Kanawha Chamber of Commerce viewed this as an excellent opportunity, as well. Around 1931, local farmers and businessmen in north-central Iowa raised $12,000 to purchase 93 acres for an experimental farm. (That’s roughly the equivalent of $250,000 in 2024 dollars.)

With the support of 350 shareholders, the North Iowa Experimental Association was formed. Project leaders built a lab and machine shed at the farm. They also partnered with Iowa State to conduct research that would benefit local farmers, based on the soils and weather conditions of northern Iowa.

As the research farm evolved, the Clarion-Webster Experimental Association was organized in 1946. By 1952, the group purchased 80 acres south of the original research farm to focus on drainage research.

In 1995, the two associations merged and formed NCIRA, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization. Through the years, the research farm at Kanawha has served as a model for other association-owned farms in Iowa, as well as similar research farms in other states and in countries around the world.

NCIRA continues its partnership with ISU to conduct relevant crop production, crop protection and water quality research to serve the farmers and agricultural retailers of northern Iowa. The association also partners with ISU Extension and Outreach to offer multiple field days, demonstrations and youth learning events each year.

“Many of ISU’s crop production recommendations for soybeans, corn, small grains and soil fertility come from years of research conducted at this farm and other research farms throughout the state,” said Angie Rieck-Hinz, an ISU Extension field agronomist who serves north central Iowa. “We appreciate this long-standing partnership with the Northern Research Farm.”