Current Competitive Grants
Marketing | Ecology | Policy | Cross-Initiative
Marketing and Food Systems Initiative
Projects new in 2009 [Read descriptions for new marketing projects]
- A Food Distribution Network for the Northern Iowa Food and Farm Partnership
- Accelerating Latino Leadership in Educational Initiatives for Entrepreneurial and Ecological Farming: Building a Culturally-Responsive Community of Practice
- An Automated Mechanical Weed Removal System for Vegetable Crops
- Building Student Awareness and Involvement in the Farm to ISU Program
- Cultivating the Agrarian Dream: Aspiring Agri-Entrepreneurs Helping One Another Choose Their Path
- Developing and Implementing a Strategic Plan for Farm-to-School Programs in Northeast Iowa
- Developing Production, Processing and Marketing of Aronia Berries on Small Family Farms in Southeast Iowa
- Enhancing Value and Marketing Options for Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) by Developing Pulp Separation and Preservation Techniques
- Experiential Educational Engagement with Working Groups and Communities of Practice
- Feasibility Study for the Creation of a Meat Processing Training Program in Iowa through the Community Colleges
- Growing Up Local: A Value Chain Analysis of Local Produce in Iowa
- High-Tunnel Resource Manual and Producer Resource Kit Providing the Tools for Profitability
- Life Cycle Assessment of Confinement and Pasture-based Dairying in Iowa: Impacts and Options for Mitigation
- Pottawattamie County Farm to Fork (Phase III)
- Research and Assistance in Support of the Foodsheds in the Upper Midwest Initiative to Measure the Economic Impacts of Increased Local Food Production and Consumption
- Routing Foods into Southeast Iowa
- The Actual Cost of Food Systems on Roadway Infrastructure
- Update of the Iowa Produce Market Calculator Web Site
Projects renewed for 2009 work [Read descriptions for renewed marketing projects]
- Adding a New Generation to Iowa’s Sustainable Farms
- Establishing an Iowa Microenterprise Foundation
- Expanding Business Skills for Specialty Growers in Iowa
- Latino Farmers and Local Multicultural Food and Marketing Systems
- New Champions Expanded Scope: Developing an Action Plan for Building an Expanded Regional Food Economy in Black Hawk and Surrounding Counties
- Pottawattamie County Farm to Fork
- Producer Machinery and Labor Sharing Arrangements Workshops
Projects new in 2009 [Read descriptions for new ecology projects]
- Assessment of Woody Biomass as a Niche Feedstock for Biobased Products in Iowa
- Corn Silage Test Plot to Increase Profitability for Dairy Farmers and Reduce Winter Wind & Water Erosion
- Evaluating Canola (Brassica napus) as an Alternative Oilseed Crop and Enhancing Winter Cover in Iowa
- Evaluating Denitrifying Bioreactors for Edge-of-Field Nitrogen Management in Iowa’s Tile-Drained Landscapes
- Feasibility of Unheated Large Gutter-Connect Greenhouses for Iowa Winter Organic Vegetables
- Greenhorn Grazing: A Modular Pasture and Animal Management Curriculum for Beginning and Transitioning Graziers
- Land Use Conversion to Perennial Vegetation: Quantifying Soil Water Regime and Aeration and the Implications for Enhancing Soil Resilience to Climate Change
- Optimizing Buffer Strips for Improved Ecosystem Services
- Performance of Cropping Systems Designed to Reduce Nitrate Leaching into Shallow Municipal Well Aquifers
- Quantifying the Effect of Perennial Vegetation on Soil and Water Quality
- Site Specific Implementation of Practices that Alter the Spatial/Temporal Distribution of Grazing Cattle to Improve Water Quality of Pasture Streams in the Rathbun Lake Watershed
Projects renewed for 2009 work [Read descriptions for renewed ecology projects]
- Agronomic, Ecological, and Economic Comparisons of Conventional and Low-External-Input Cropping Systems
- Agronomic, Environmental and Economic Performance of Alternative Biomass Cropping Systems
- Development and Implementation of Low Input Delivery Systems for Ethanol Coproducts in Forage Based Beef Systems
- Energy Use and Nutrient Cycling in Pig Production Systems
- Grazing Compatibility in and for Future Years
- Grazing Prairie: Improving Species Diversity while Maintaining Cattle and Goat Productivity and Resting Home Pastures
- Optimizing Legume Establishment in Winter Small Grains
- Participatory Ecology for 'Agriculture of the Middle': Developing Tools and Partnerships to Bridge Gaps among Science, People and Policy in Landscape Change
- Providing Shaded Pasture with Perennial Biomass Energy Plantings
- Reducing Pesticide Use in Iowa Vineyards: Alternatives to Herbicides for Vineyard Weed Management
- Screening Winter Tritiacle Cultivars and Breeding Lines for Forage and Biomass Production
- Soil Moisture Dynamics and Plant Transpiration under Contrasting Annual-Perennial Cover Types
- The Landowners' Decision: Grazing and Fire as a Management Tool on Iowa Grasslands
- Variations in Water and Nutrient Cycling and Soil Properties during Agricultural Landscape Restoration
[Read descriptions for all policy projects]
Projects new in 2009
- Iowa Farmers and Credit, Crop Insurance and Sustainable Agriculture
- Shaping a Functional and Sustainable Biofuels Industry through Bridging Industrial Needs with Farmer Production Capabilities
Projects nenewed for 2009 work
- State Policy Alternatives for Biofuels Industry Support of Sustainable Production of Biofuels Feedstocks
[Read cross-initiative grant descriptions here]
Projects new in 2009
- Meeting On-farm Energy Needs through Conservation, Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- On-Line Learning: Using Webinars to Teach about Succession and Enterprise Development Issues
Projects renewed for 2009 work
- Grass-based Livestock Working Group
- Sustainable Economic Development through Organic and Grazing Dairy Farm Establishment and Transition