Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Current Competitive Grant

Evaluating canola (Brassica napus) as an alternative oilseed crop and enhancing winter cover in Iowa

Project ID: E2009-21

This 3-year grant for $88,684 was awarded in 2009.

Location: Cherokee, Guthrie, O'Brien counties

One of the objectives of this project is to increase the amount of information available to growers about canola as a ‘third’ crop in Iowa. Investigators also want to gather more data about winter cover crops in Iowa. The team will assess the economical and ecological impacts of alternative cropping systems and different crop rotations. Data gathered will be used to assess the viability of canola as a crop for Iowa and make cropping recommendations to farmers.

Mary Wiedenhoeft

Mary Wiedenhoeft Mary Wiedenhoeft is a professor in agronomy at Iowa State University. Her primary responsibility is in undergraduate education. She also advises undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests include the production and management of forage crops, rotational grazing, the use of alternative forage crops and sustainable agriculture. Stefans Gailans is a graduate teaching assistant at Iowa State University from Mequon, Wisconsin. He was led to study agriculture by a care for the land and environmental stewardship. Previously, he has worked in a weed science lab at the University of Illinois and spend a summer on an organic farm in Montana. [Contact lead investigator]

Co-Investigator(s):

Stefans Gailans, graduate student, ISU Agronomy

This competitive grant project is part of the Leopold Center's Ecology Initiative.

Topics: Multi-year rotations, low-external input