Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Leopold Center co–sponsors two workshops January 12

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January 7, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Unpredictable weather and climate changes can wreak havoc for livestock producers who rely on rotational grazing and outdoor year-round systems.

Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt will moderate a January 12 panel discussion about risk management for graziers, including how to manage pastures under drought conditions. "Growing High Quality Forage: Risk Management for Volatile Weather" will feature Terry Gompert, a holistic management trainer and Nebraska Extension educator; and four Iowa graziers: Tom German of Holstein, Steve Reinart of Glidden, Torray Wilson of Paullina and Leo Benjamin of Whiting.

The workshop, which will be 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., is part of Practical Farmers of Iowa's annual conference January 12-13 at the Airport Holiday Inn in Des Moines. The Iowa Forage and Grassland Council is a co-sponsor of the grazing workshop with the Leopold Center.

A second workshop is for farmers interested in joining direct market food distribution systems. Rich Pirog, who directs the Leopold Center's Marketing and Food Systems Initiative, and PFI's Gary Huber will lead "Creating New Iowa Food Distribution Systems." The program will focus on developing distribution systems to link farmers directly to families, restaurants, institutions and grocery stores. They will review models from Iowa and other states and discuss strategies to address challenges associated with attracting customers, developing inventory and ordering systems, and transporting products.

In addition to these two sessions, two other workshops will be offered on January 12. PFI will offer "Adding an Enterprise: Barriers and Opportunities for Growing Beyond Commodity Markets" and "High-Tunnels for Lower Costs and Higher Profits."

The annual conference will convene on Saturday, January 13 with 15 shorter sessions on a variety of topics, some related to Leopold Center research from eating locally to transitioning to organic production. Check out all sessions as well as registration fees at the PFI web site, www.practicalfarmers.org. Walk-in registrations will be accepted both days. 

For more info contact:

Jeri Neal, Ecology Initiative, (515) 294-5610, wink@iastate.edu

Rich Pirog, Marketing and Food Systems Initiative, (515) 294-1854, rspirog@iastate.edu

Laura Miller, Communications, (515) 294-5272, lwmiller@iastate.edu

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