This site was opened in 1964 when the Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy Farms were relocated from South State Avenue in Story County. The Iowa Crops and Soils Research Association, a group of Iowa agricultural leaders with on-campus leadership by Professor H.D. Hughes, was instrumental in acquiring the farmland.
The Wallace Foundation was formed in 1990 to enhance agricultural research and education for southwest Iowa. The Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm was established by a donation of 40 acres and the sale of 360 acres to the foundation by Gail and Glendale Armstrong in 1993.
The BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) is the first-in-the-nation integrated research and demonstration farm devoted to biomass production and processing. Since opening in 2009, the BCRF has promoted and supported advanced research in the areas of biomass production, harvest, storage, transport, preparation, processing and analysis.
Horticultural field research has been active at Iowa State since the beginning of the institution. The work was moved to this site in 1967 from the former location at Sheldon and Knapp streets in Ames.
The farm was established by a donation of 480 acres in 1956 by Harry McNay and his sister, Winnie. Additional land acquisitions allowed researchers to broaden the scope of the research conducted.
The research farm was founded in 1935 on 63 acres leased from the Rock Island Railroad. In 1983, the association purchased 40 acres of this original tract and an additional 66 acres were added in 2002. In 2013, an adjacent 20 acres were acquired.
The Wallace Foundation was formed in 1990 to enhance agricultural research and education for southwest Iowa. A donation of a 160-acre farm in Adair County by Wayne and Margaret Neely in 1994 established the Neely-Kinyon Research Farm.
The association established the farm in 1976. In 2009, the Borlaug Learning Center building opened. It houses ISU Extension and Outreach and farm staff.
The North Iowa Experimental Association, the oldest in Iowa, was formed in 1930 and purchased 93 acres. The Clarion- Webster Experimental Association was formed in 1952 and purchased 80 acres. In 1995, the associations merged.
The association purchased two tracts, 37 acres in Lyon County and 75 acres in O’Brien County, in 1954. In 1989 and 1990, the organization purchased additional land, 60 acres in Lyon County and 152 acres in O’Brien County.
