The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture explores and cultivates alternatives that secure healthier people and landscapes in Iowa and the nation.
Frontpage Features Archive
Real power: Sowing seeds of hope
“I like nothing better than to get my hands into good, rich soil and sow the seeds of hope.” - Will Allen
CEO and founder of Growing Power Inc., Will Allen will be the morning keynote at the Iowa Organic Conference November 19 in Iowa City. He is the son of a sharecropper and a former NBA basketball player, now involved in organic farming projects and outreach programs throughout the world. His farm inside the Milwaukee city limits is a model for integrated, diversified urban agriculture. The recipient of a McArthur Genius Grant, Allen also has been honored by the James Beard Foundation for inspiring positive action to improve our country’s food systems.
More details about this event, co-sponsored by the Leopold Center.
Scaling-up for local foods
A new report looks at the challenges and opportunities for farmers looking to scale-up their operations to meet the increasing consumer demand for locally grown fruit and vegetables. Prepared by Practical Farmers of Iowa, the report summarizes interviews with 15 growers and 12 wholesale buyers with experience in this market. It was funded as special project of the statewide Local Food and Farm Initiative coordinated by Craig Chase at the Leopold Center.
Chris Blanchard operates Rock Spring Farm near Decorah and was interviewed for the report. He says efficiencies are needed, both in machinery and distribution partnerships. Above is a vegetable barrel washer in his wash house. Read the Scaling-Up report. [Photo by Jerry DeWitt]
When agriculture becomes art
These 40-ft. towers greet visitors to Coon Rapids, reminders of Nikita Khruschev's Cold War-era visit to the nearby Roswell Garst Farms, now Whiterock Conservancy nature area. The sculptures reflect the community’s engagement with hybrid corn, genetics, and international diplomacy, and will be one focal point for an upcoming workshop, Public Art for Rural Communities. Coon Rapids is an "Great Places" community. [Photo by Charlie Nixon, Coon Rapids Enterprise]
Radishes, anyone?
The ISU Dairy Farm south of Ames has a cover crop of tillage radishes this year. After silage harvest, radishes were planted August 29 in the heavily compacted end rows. This was the field on October 10; one tap root measured 8.5 inches. The radishes will break up compacted soil and hold nutrients in place. Oats were seeded on the rest of the field and can be seen among the radishes. Cover crops are getting a second look this year due to the drought, although cover crops also have long-term benefits for soil quality. More information, and details about a December workshop, are on our Iowa Cover Crops Working Group page. [Photo by farm superintendent Kent Burns]
Why care about carbon?
It turns out that agricultural practices can help a lot when it comes to sequestering carbon and keeping it in our rich Iowa soils - good for the climate, good for the soil! The Leopold Center is part of a larger project funded by the NASA EPSCoR program to develop computer models showing how different farming practices influence carbon movement. Read a news release; investigators explain the project in two new On the Ground videos.
In this photo: Thanos Papanicolaou (center) poses with team members at the Clear Creek experimental site. [Photo by Jackie Stoltze]
A blueberry treat
Fresh blueberries from the Berry Patch in Nevada await sampling by elementary students in the Des Moines last summer. About 600 students who participated in the district’s summer feeding programs had the opportunity to taste fresh-from-the-farm carrots, kohlrabi, peppers, strawberries, broccoli, tomatoes and asparagus as part of a pilot project to encourage healthy eating. This month, students at four Des Moines elementary schools will have fries made with sweet potatoes from Table Top Farm in Nevada to celebrate National Farm to School Month.
More about this Des Moines school program [PDF], supported by a special project grant from the Leopold Center’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative
More about Farm to School Month activities in Iowa, including farmers markets at two Ames elementary schools, in our October Notes newsletter
Nabbing nitrates: Before water leaves the farm
Although field tiles are far from flowing this year, a new video series looks at how conservation practices remove nitrates from ground water. The series was produced by M&M Divide Resource Conservation & Development. The Leopold Center purchased videos for Iowa ag instructors. Watch the videos More [Photo by Jerry DeWitt]
Stemming the flow of nitrates to the Gulf
Iowa State University professor Tom Isenhart (in cap) sets up a water table for the New Technology Expo that was held September 12 at the ISU BioCentury Research Farm west of Ames. The table shows how land formations and activities on the landscape affect water flow. The event included research posters and presentations, tours of the farm and experimental plots as well as a trade show for state and federal agencies, nonprofits and private ag businesses working to improve water quality in Iowa.
Iowa's secretary of agriculture Bill Northey organized the event for colleagues visiting from 45 state ag departments and members of a regional Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force that he co-chairs with Ann Mills, U.S. Department of Agriculture under secretary for natural resources and environment. The task force is expected to release a report soon, identifying voluntary practices that could reduce hypoxia in the Gulf. The Leopold Center was among the many exhibitors inside the building. Video of Northey [Photo by Jeni Maiers, Center for Crops Utilization Research]
Leopold Center directors, past and present
Mark Rasmussen (left) joins his predecessors during a September 6 reception that welcomed him back to Iowa State as the fourth director of the Leopold Center. Fred Kirschenmann (center) served as Center director from 2000 to 2005 and currently is Distinguished Fellow. Dennis Keeney was the Center's first director from 1988 through 1999, and now is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and in the Department of Soil, Air and Water at the University of Minnesota. The Leopold Center's third director was Jerry DeWitt, who retired in 2010 and lives in North Carolina. See more photos from the reception on the Center's Facebook page Check out a timeline of the Center's 25-year history
Drought stirs interest in cover crops
Farmers inspect cover crops on the Paul and Nancy Ackley farm south of Bedford during a recent Practical Farmers of Iowa tour of three Taylor County farms in southern Iowa. The field day focused on using cover crops to reduce soil compaction, however, this summer's drought has sparked increased interest in fall-planted cover crops, which can take up nitrogen that stressed crops may not have used and combat soil erosion. An emergency measure allows Iowa farmers to sign up for cost-share dollars for planting cover crops this fall. Details and other resources are on the Iowa Cover Crops Working Group page. [Photo courtesy Practical Farmers of Iowa]
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