Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Current Cross Cutting Initiative Grants

The Cross-Cutting Initiative focuses on work that cuts across the Leopold Center’s other initiatives in ecology, marketing and policy. Many of the projects supported by this initiative look at water, energy, soil and alternative farming systems.

Four projects are new in 2012: research by Practical Farmers of Iowa to conduct metered energy analyses, adding perennial plant refuges on cropland, farrowing pigs in insulated tents and a biorenewable project at the University of Iowa. Here's a list of all projects new in 2012 [PDF]

Click on the title for a detailed description of the project, who is doing the work and where it is taking place.

Project Title Project IDsort icon
Greenhouse production of high-value crops in an aquaponic system XPSP2013-01
Game-bird preserve alternative-enterprise models: Soil and water conservation and value-added income diversification XPSP2012-DB
Sustainable production of bioenergy from agricultural and food waste XPSP2011-SJ
Attracting pollinators and natural enemies to add value to Iowa agriculture XP2012-07
Farm metered energy analyses: Getting baseline data, ground-truthing changes XP2012-06
The University of Iowa Biomass Partnership Project XP2012-05
Demonstrating farrowing alternatives for small farms: Insulated tents for sows and pigs XP2012-04
Building social networks to capture synergies in wood-based energy production and invasive pest mitigation XP2011-07
Drainage water quality impacts of current and future agricultural management practices XP2011-04
Iowa Farm Energy Working Group XP2011-03
The Long-Term Agroecological Research (LTAR) Experiment: Ecological benefits of organic crop rotations in terms of crop yields, soil quality, economic performance and potential global climate change mitigation XP2011-02
Increasing Iowa farmers' resiliency through the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) cooperators' program XP2011-01
Exploring the role of multifunctional agriculture on the future of agriculture and rural development XP2010-03
Grass-Based Livestock Working Group G2008-01

See full list of current Leopold Center competitive grants in all initiative areas.