Cool Tools

	Iowa Food Marketing Regulations: A Guide for Small-Scale Producers This guide offers an overview of the various licenses required for selling local foods in Iowa (fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs, honey and dairy) and directs readers to the appropriate agency for answering specific questions. Read the news release
	High Tunnel Resources Leopold Center projects have supported the Iowa High Tunnel Fruit and Vegetable Manual, Rainwater Catchment from a High Tunnel for Irrigation Use, Vegetable Production Budgets for a High Tunnel, and the Tunnels to Tables reports listed on the Marketing Resources webpage.
	Grower's Manual: A Template for Grower Cooperatives This 24-page manual, adapted from GROWN Locally, helps local food cooperatives improve their handling practices and meet food safety standards. Read the news release.
	Learning about Local at ISU Directory of ISU organizations, programs, services and courses about local foods. Read the news release about this resource.
	Learning about Local Directory of Iowa groups involved in local foods. Read the news release about this resource.
	Two Vegetable Wash Station Designs These detailed instructions and illustrations will help fruit and vegetable growers build low-cost and efficient wash stations. This tool was developed by the Fruit and Vegetable Working Group. Read the news release.
	Post-Harvest Handling Decision Tool This online tool describes handling systems for different groups of crops and general considerations for designing your own post-harvest handling system. This tool was developed by the Fruit and Vegetable Working Group. Read the news release.
	I-FARM This interactive online program allows farmers to create scenerios based on their own land as an aid to livestock and crop planning. The model incorporates land, weather and environmental data for all 48 of the contiguous United States. Read the news release.
	Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Market Planner This tool shows rates of demand for 80 crops, with settings for regions in/around Iowa, consumers by age group, various time frames and product mixes. Download the User's Guide. Read the news release. Sources of data
	U.S. Food Market Estimator This tool can approximate markets for more than 200 different food products in every county and state in the United States. Download the Users Guide. Read the news release.
	Produce Profitability Calculator This tool shows crop-by-crop comparisons of profitability for various food crops. Download the Users Manual, or read this related publication: Contracting with Foodservices. Read the news release.
	Iowa Fruit and Vegetable Production Budgets These are enterprise budgets for 14 fruit and vegetable crops commonly grown in Iowa. The tool includes example worksheets (in PDF format) and spreadsheets (Excel files), both available from Ag Decision Maker.
	FAQ on Food Regulations for Small Market Producers Responses from state agency and university experts on food safety and food regulations. Read the news release.
	Climate Change Glossary Terms used in discussions of climate change and agriculture. Read the news release.
	Visit Iowa Farms This website lists farms that offer you-pick operations, maizes and other agritourism services. The program was developed by the Iowa Agritourism Working Group led by ISU Value Added Agriculture Extension.
	Iowa MarketMaker This is an interactive website to locate businesses and markets in Iowa, also marketing and training materials, resources and directories for 16 other states. It was developed by the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center at ISU with Leopold Center support. Updated resources and introduction to tool [ISU Extension]

Resources