-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
The Northern Research and Demonstration Farm near Kanawha regularly hosts field days for farmers and other ag professionals. Gentry Sorenson (right), a field agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, discussed weed management during a June 2024 field day at the farm.

KANAWHA — If knowledge is power, then curiosity is the muscle that drives it. Curiosity also powers innovation at the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm near Kanawha, which has served farmers for decades through field days and more.

Farm supporters are now hard at work on an $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.

“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.”

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.

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

-Farm News photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Located just south of Kanawha, the 173-acre Northern Research and Demonstration Farm regularly hosts field days in conjunction with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Extension specialists share the latest, science-based research on soybean and corn production, weed management and more.

“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.”

Fundraising is well underway, thanks to private and corporate donations. The capital campaign also received a big boost from the Lawyer family of Worth County. They have offered to match donations to the capital campaign up to $50,000 by the end of 2024.

“Caryl Lawyer and her late husband, David Lawyer, have always been steadfast advocates of agriculture,” said Angie Rieck-Hinz, an ISU Extension field agronomist who serves north-central Iowa. “Their curiosity has led them to try many new things on their farm and foster their support of agricultural research and education. We appreciate their support of the Northern Research Farm.”

Research farm started with sugar beets

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 local 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 and small grains come from years of research conducted at this farm and other research farms throughout the state,” Rieck-Hinz said. “We appreciate this long-standing partnership with the Northern Research Farm.”

Honoring a legacy

of innovation

Through the years, the Northern Research Farm has benefited area communities not only through farm research, but by donating hundreds of pounds of freshly grown vegetables to the local nursing home, providing pumpkins for school kids and supporting local community events.

This commitment resonates with the Lawyer family, who issued the challenge grant to help support the capital campaign. Ag innovation has long been a part of Caryl Lawyer’s family heritage.

“My dad was an agricultural engineer, and my husband’s family grew hemp for rope-making in World War II,” she said. “They also grew soybeans, and my father-in-law was president of the North Iowa Soybean Cooperative in the 1940s.”

The family also grew sugar beets in the 1960s. Lawyer credits her family’s ag background for the work ethic, dedication and trust that have kept their family strong through the generations.

“It’s human nature to create challenges, so we created a challenge for others to join us to improve this north Iowa facility for top-notch research,” she said.

Guenther appreciates this support and encourages local farmers, landowners, ag businesses and others to invest in the future of the research farm. Contributions to the capital campaign can be sent to North Central Iowa Research Association, 310 S. Main St., Kanawha, IA, 50447.

To make a gift of grain this fall as a donation to the campaign, contact Matt Schnabel, farm superintendent, at mschn@iastate.edu.

“The generosity of the Lawyer family is a great opportunity,” Guenther said. “People can double their support by helping us meet this challenge.”