By Angie Rieck-Hinz and Rebecca Vittetoe
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s Crops Team reached thousands of farmers, agribusiness professionals and crop advisers during the 2025–2026 winter season through a wide range of educational programs focused on timely crop production issues and decision‑making.
Signature programs during the season included the Integrated Crop Management (ICM) Conference, the Crop Advantage Series, Planter University and CropsTV, all designed to deliver research‑based information to support Iowa agriculture.
The annual Integrated Crop Management Conference attracted 478 attendees. A post‑conference evaluation, completed by 144 participants, showed strong knowledge gains related to southern rust, a disease of increasing concern following its $999.8 million impact on Iowa corn producers during the 2025 growing season. Prior to the conference session on disease identification, 65% of respondents reported a high level of knowledge in identifying southern rust relative to common rust. After the session, that number rose to 90%. Additionally, only 48% reported they knew where to find additional tools to help make fungicide decisions prior to the session and after the session 87% said they knew where to find the ROI calculator and disease forecasting tools. Both parameters measured reflected significant knowledge gained in management of southern rust, providing potential to improve decision-making in the 2026 crop year.
The Crop Advantage Series, held at 12 locations across Iowa in January 2026, drew more than 950 attendees. Post‑meeting surveys revealed that 91% of participants felt the program met or exceeded their expectations, while over 84% reported attending specifically for the research and technical updates
Source : iastate.edu