Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

2009 Leopold Center research results released

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July 24, 2009

AMES, Iowa -- The key findings and lessons learned from 20 recent Iowa-based research projects funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture are now available on the Web under "Completed Grants." New one-page project synopses of the research results are posted at that site, along with the traditional long summaries for each recently completed project.

The on-line-only publication of the Center’s research results replaces the paper version of the Center Progress Report, which had been issued annually since 1992. Readers of this volume learned about the wide variety of studies and demonstrations that the Center had funded and helped guide to completion.

Earlier this year the decision was made to cease publication of the Center Progress Report, for both financial and environmental reasons. The Center will continue to share its latest research results with the public, but these summaries will be provided electronically in a format that can be reprinted by the reader as needed. Rather than issuing only one volume of reports each year, new summaries will be added to the page quarterly as investigators submit their findings to the Center.

“This change in delivery method will save money for the Center and also will allow us to provide the very newest results from our three research initiatives to the larger public much more quickly. Most of our readers are used to receiving information on-line and we hope the transition will be an easy one for them,” notes Center director Jerry DeWitt. “While we regret the loss of the paper version of the Center Progress Report, posting the summaries on-line is an environmentally responsible decision that positions the Center squarely within the directives of the ISU campus sustainability mandate.”

The 20 recently completed projects are in the Center’s three research initiatives of Ecology, Marketing and Food Systems, and Policy. They cover a variety of topics from farm business incubators and safe food handling practices to the effects of biomass harvest on erosion and riparian management to reduce nonpoint source pollution of pasture and cropland streams.

Copies of the remaining paper volumes of the Center Progress Report from 2001 through 2008 are available by writing to the Leopold Center at 209 Curtiss Hall, ISU, Ames, IA 50011, or by calling 515-294-3711. 

For more info contact:

Jerry DeWitt, Leopold Center Director,
(515) 294-3711, jdewitt@iastate.edu

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

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

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

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