Leopold Center Advisory Board adds new members

Back to News Release Archive

AMES, Iowa – The Leopold Center Advisory Board begins the new year with three new members. Iowa State professor Steven Mickelson, West Des Moines businessman Dale Farnham and Iowa Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jay Johnson are the newest appointees to the Center’s 17-member advisory board.

The board has members who represent all three state universities, private colleges and universities, three state agencies and four farm groups. All serve four-year terms, and are appointed by the organizations they represent.

Mickelson was appointed in September to represent Iowa State University on the board, replacing Senior Associate Dean Joe Coletti who had served since 2010.

Mickelson is chair of the ISU Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and holds the Charles R. and Jane F. Olsen Professor of Engineering at Iowa State. His expertise is in best management practices for improving water quality. ISU’s other representatives on the board are also department chairs: Maynard Hogberg in Animal Science, and Paul Lasley in Sociology and Anthropology.

Farnham was appointed in November to represent the State Soil Conservation Committee on the board. He replaces John Sellers Jr. of Corydon, who served part of a term on the board from 2003-2004 and from 2009-2012.

Farnham is assistant vice president and head of the R&D department at Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company and serves on the State Soil Conservation Committee as its “cities and towns” representative. He has worked in a number of positions as agronomist and agribusiness manager, including Iowa State University Extension, the ISU Agronomy Department, Monsanto and Cenex Land o’ Lakes.

The third new advisory board member represents the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Johnson was appointed in November to succeed Maury Wills, IDALS bureau chief for Agricultural Diversification and Market Development, who had served on the advisory board since 2008.

Johnson was appointed deputy secretary in January 2012, following a 28-year career with the USDA Packers and Stockyards Administration. Most recently he managed all packer-stockyard activities in a 12-state Upper Midwest region and all hog issues on a national basis.

For more information about the Leopold Center’s advisory board, go to http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/about/advisory_board.

The Leopold Center was created by the 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protection Act and is among five state organizations that receive funds collected by the state on fertilizer sales and farm chemical registrations. The Leopold Center’s mandated mission is to identify and reduce negative environmental and social impacts of farming and develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources.

Back to News Release Archive

The Leopold Center was established by the 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protection Act as a research and education center at Iowa State University to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources. Iowa State does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Vietnam Era Veteran. Any persons having inquiries concerning this may contact the Director of Affirmative Action, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.

This page was found at http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/01-03-2013/new-advisory-board-members on 01/20/2013