Cultivating Partnerships, Growing Stewardship

The Agriculture Department is cultivating new partnerships that deepen student learning and expand the possibilities for research on Dordt’s farm.

“As a department, we wanted to use Dordt’s Agriculture Stewardship Center even more intentionally—to help students learn, to connect with industry partners, and to advance stewardship-minded agriculture in our community,” says Dr. Jeremy Hummel ('03), professor of agriculture and plant science.

That goal led to the formation of the Agriculture Stewardship Center oversight team, a group tasked with evaluating how Dordt uses its land and how new collaborations can enhance student experiences. The result is a growing network of partnerships—some longstanding, some brand new—that bring classroom concepts to life.

Among the newest collaborations is Dordt’s partnership with Alpha Ag Research, an independent agricultural research company founded by Dordt alumnus Corey Rozenboom (’04). Allen Hubers (’05) serves as research manager, and Cheney Vander Berg ('23) as field trial specialist. Alpha Ag conducts field trials for both local farmers and agricultural companies, helping test new products and technologies under real-world conditions.

For Rozenboom, the connection with Dordt goes far beyond logistics. “The partnership with Dordt was pursued because of our shared worldview of Christ-centered renewal in all areas of life,” he says. “There are many universities with strong agronomy programs, but very few start from the conviction that God is the Creator—and that science helps us know more of His design.”

That perspective, he adds, shapes how Alpha Ag approaches its work. “Christians who engage with agriculture and research will testify to the complexity of God’s order that can be plainly observed,” Rozenboom says. “Our hope is that students will see that too—through hands-on experience in ag research where they can observe the Creator’s hand in the details of biology, chemistry, and engineering.”

This year, Alpha Ag has been working with Dordt to develop new student learning opportunities on the university’s farmland—including projects focused on pest management and soil health.

One unique site, known as the “corn-on-corn” plot, has been continuously planted with corn for more than 15 years. While such continuous cropping is considered poor agronomy, it’s become a valuable research asset.

“Having the same crop planted year after year builds up huge populations of corn rootworm beetles, which are a major pest,” Hummel explains. “That’s bad for yields, but great for science.”

The field now serves as a testing ground for students to analyze rootworm management technologies—ranging from crop genetics to soil-applied treatments. “We harvest samples, do yield estimates, and run the data,” says Hummel. “It’s a chance for students to apply statistical reasoning to real field conditions and see how agronomic research informs farm decisions.”

Alpha Ag’s involvement has made those projects more robust. “They helped us rework the design of the trial and connect it to broader industry standards,” Hummel says. “It’s the kind of collaboration that gives students a sense of how professional research is conducted.”

Beyond pest management, Dordt and Alpha Ag are also launching a long-term soil health study—a 10-acre project designed to observe how different practices, from manure application to biological soil amendments, impact soil quality over time.

“A lot of ag research happens over one or two seasons,” Hummel says. “That’s valuable, but a longer-term study—five or 10 years—lets us see how the soil itself responds to different stewardship practices.”

Rozenboom agrees. “Ag research doesn’t always make headlines, but it’s crucial for food security around the world,” he says. “Equipping students with practical knowledge of research methods gives them a broader understanding of how agriculture contributes to the good of society.”

Additional partnerships include ongoing collaborations with Corteva Agriscience, which maintains research plots on the university’s Broek Farm to test seed varieties and crop performance; East River Genetics, which provides dairy heifers used in animal health and reproduction labs; and several local families who donate or loan livestock for Dordt’s beef and sheep courses. Dordt has also formed a new partnership with Cornucopia CSA, a local vegetable producer run by graduate John Wesselius (’85) who now rents acreage at Dordt’s Agriculture Stewardship Center, giving students opportunities to observe market garden production, pest management, and crop diversity up close.

Through these partnerships, Dordt students learn not only how to grow crops but how to think faithfully about creation care and the systems that sustain life.

“Every trial, every data set, every soil sample can point us to something deeper,” says Hummel. “It’s about seeing agriculture as a form of stewardship—understanding that the Creator’s design is complex, beautiful, and worth studying well.”

About Dordt University

As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, the Wall Street Journal, Times Higher Education, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.