The 2016 Home Demonstration Gardens were planted as two interconnected themes: pantry garden and pollinator garden. Three-quarters of the garden was planted to the pantry garden, which focused on cultivar trials and donation of produce to local food pantries. The pollinator garden consisted mainly of annual flowers to encourage pollinators to visit as a nectar and food source.

Seed treatments offer protection to germinating seeds and developing seedlings from fungi, insects, and nematodes. All legumes require the appropriate rhizobium bacteria in the soil in order for nitrogen fixation to occur. Inoculating the seed with an inoculum can insure the crop will take advantage of this nitrogen fixation.

The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) conducts trials throughout the United States on turfgrass adaptation. This trial was established in September 2012 as a part of the NTEP program. This is the second year data have been collected on this trial. It contains 116 turf-type tall fescue cultivars.

Golf course fairways often are kept at a height of less than one-inch of cut, and should have a turfgrass that will recover from a divot. Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) often is used on golf course fairways due to the ability of the turfgrass to tolerate a low height of cut and quick recovery from divots. However, these grasses grow aggressively by stolons and can produce a large amount of organic matter quickly. Slow drainage, a soft playing surface, unsightly mower scalp, and a home to many pests are all problems caused by excess organic matter.

The BioCentury Research Farm (BCRF) had a diversity of users in 2016. Iowa State University (ISU) faculty and staff from the Departments of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE); Agronomy; Biochemistry; Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE); Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE); and Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN), as well as the Bioeconomy Institute (BEI), Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), and Extension and Outreach conducted research, teaching, and/or outreach at the BCRF. Private industry users of the BCRF included ARGO, Deere & Company, DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol, Phillips 66, and many others. By the end of 2016, the BCRF had more than 80 full- and part-time users with projects in all available space.