Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Completed Grants

This is where you will find all of our grant reports. The Leopold Center has operated a competitive grants program since 1988, funding more than 420 Iowa-based projects in every county in Iowa.

The most recently completed projects are listed first. Click on the title to see the abstract, key findings and links to printable summaries of findings from each project. For more details about a project than what is included in the project summary documents, contact the lead investigator (email address is in the longer project summary).

  • To see grant reports from projects just in the Ecology Initiative, go here
  • To see grant reports from projects just in the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative, go here
  • To see grant reports from projects just in the Policy Initiative, go here
  • To see grant reports from the Cross-Cutting Initiative, go here
  • Grant reports from earlier projects not part of any initiative are on the list that starts below.

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View grants completed in year...

2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992
2010
Project Title Project IDsort icon Completion Year
New Farmer Jump Start Project M2008-14 2010
Pottawattamie County Farm to Fork M2008-08 2010
Is the meat goat enterprise profitable and sustainable? M2007-28 2010
Building a direct-to-consumer distribution system in Iowa M2007-19 2010
Tunnels to tables: High tunnel production and distribution model for produce M2007-05 2010
Strategies to stabilize locally grown produce for year-round sales: A feasibility study M2006-21 2010
2009
Project Title Project IDsort icon Completion Year
Grinnell Area Petroleum Replacement Initiative, Phase 2 M2008-12 2009
Community economic impact assessment for a multi-county local food system in northeast Iowa M2008-05 2009
Mapping biomass markets in Iowa M2008-04 2009
Safe food handling practices on the farm: Meeting the needs of foodservice operations M2007-36 2009
Investigating the feasibility of establishing food processing and distribution centers for western Iowa M2007-33 2009
Researching and evaluating an effective web-based local food sales template M2007-31 2009
Strengthening the regional and local food systems in the Iowa Valley: Enhancing the sustainability of the University of Iowa food system, a Factor-10 approach M2007-22 2009
Effects of ambient temperature and transportation distances on the resulting pork quality M2007-13 2009
Organic agriculture program viability study M2007-03 2009
Planning a facility for value-added farm business incubation and educational use M2006-25 2009
Plan demonstration farm to include farm business incubator and educational use M2006-24 2009
Functional quality management systems for livestock producers M2006-03 2009
A study of the factors that influence consumer attitudes towards beef products using the conjoint market analysis tool M2005-27 2009
Southwest Iowa institutional foods survey and producer training program M2005-12 2009
Leveraging student expertise to solve food production marketing problems M2003-04 2009
2011
Project Title Project IDsort icon Completion Year
Producer machinery and labor sharing arrangements workshops M2008-02 2011
Distillers Dried Grains (DDG) feeding and impacts on meat quality for grazing steers ESP2006-03 2011
Adapting land retirement programs in response to Iowa's changing economy EP2007-30 2011
Feasibility of unheated large gutter-connect greenhouses for winter organic vegetable production in Iowa E2009-24 2011
Corn silage test plot to increase profitability for dairy farmers and reduce winter wind & water erosion E2009-02 2011
2008
Project Title Project IDsort icon Completion Year
Strengthening the local and regional food system in the Iowa Valley M2007-17 2008
Cash flow and product profitability analysis and improvement for small meat processors M2007-16 2008
Potential to operate greenhouses and aquaculture in conjunction with Iowa's ethanol plants M2007-08 2008
Development of a niche agriculture small business money map and process to disseminate information M2007-06 2008
New food entrepreneurs: Value added enterprises for farm profitability, facilitating understanding between producers, processors and policymakers M2006-23 2008
Determining the methods for measuring the economic and fiscal impacts associated with organic crop conversion in Iowa M2006-12 2008
Investigation of the economic feasibility of pasture-based dairy operations in northwest Iowa M2006-09 2008
Assessing needs and fostering agricultural entrepreneurship among immigrants in several Iowa communities M2006-07 2008
Bridging the gap: What does it take to bring small- and medium-sized producers and retail and foodservice distributors together? M2006-05 2008
Organic, natural and grass-fed beef: Profitability and constraints to production in the Midwestern United States M2005-30 2008
Growing Your Small Market Farm Business Planning Program M2005-19 2008
Business organization and coordination in niche hog marketing M2004-22 2008
Pilot project to identify and measure the relevant costs of production for sustainable agriculture products M2004-05 2008
Reduced stormwater runoff via increased use of rain gardens ESP2007-02 2008
Whiterock Conservancy baseline data project ESP2006-04 2008
2012
Project Title Project IDsort icon Completion Year
Systems model and prototype development to capture and use rain water run-off from a high tunnel E2011-14 2012
Quantifying eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in southern Iowa: A starting point for conversations with landowners about threats to grassland resilience E2011-13 2012
Defining the grazing season of restored natural grasslands E2010-19 2012
Increasing carbon sequestration of working prairie by reducing invasive species in a fire and grazing system E2010-16 2012
Assessment of woody biomass as a niche feedstock for biobased products in Iowa E2009-26 2012
Conversion to perennial vegetation: Quantifying soil water regime, aeration, and implications for enhancing soil resilience to climate change E2009-18 2012
Evaluating denitrifying bioreactors for edge-of-field nitrogen management in Iowa's tile-drained landsacpes E2009-11 2012
Optimizing buffer strips for improved ecosystem services E2009-09 2012
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 E2009-08 2012