Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

New research focuses on emerging markets, environment and energy

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2008

The Leopold Center has awarded grants for 20 new projects covering a wide range of activities that support emerging markets for local foods and renewable energy, and encourage a transition to alternative systems that protect the environment while using fewer outside inputs.

These projects will receive $380,805 for their first year of work, and were selected in a competitive process that began last summer. Grants for eight of the new projects are for one year, nine projects will run two years, and three grants are for three years.

The Center also has renewed or is in the process of renewing 15 grants for multi-year projects already in progress. These projects bring the total amount of current grant-funded research at the Leopold Center to $713,556.

“These projects show a bold and balanced response by the Leopold Center to many of the challenges faced in Iowa agriculture, and represent a rich diversity of ideas and projects throughout the state,” said Director Jerry DeWitt.

He said all projects were evaluated on their potential to provide economic sustainability for farmers, conserve Iowa’s soil and water resources, contribute to the social fabric of Iowa’s rural communities, work with partners, and build on the Center’s work in its three initiatives.

The 2008 grants include 13 new projects in the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative. The projects will create tools and resources to help farmers enter emerging markets for local foods and renewable fuels, as well as document the impacts of those activities on regional economies to encourage rural development.

“These projects build on the foundation developed since the inception of the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative to provide farmers more information on access to capital, technical assistance and network development to create food, fiber and energy businesses,” said Rich Pirog, who directs the initiative.

He said a web-based sales template will make it easier for food buyers to place orders for produce, meats and other items directly with farmers or farmer networks. A prototype developed for northeast Iowa will be expanded to all parts of the state.

Another set of projects targets new farmers in immigrant and ethnic communities as well as farm families who want to bring children and others into their operations. Pirog said grants will support development of bilingual training for Latino farmers at Marshalltown Community College, the start of a “new generation” farm program by Practical Farmers of Iowa, and a “jump start” new farmer program in Cass County.

Six new grants are part of the Center’s Ecology Initiative that focuses on innovative ways to use diversified farming systems in Iowa. One new project explores whether grazing cattle on restored prairie and browsing goats in degraded oak savannah can provide multiple benefits to land, biodiversity and livestock management for both the farmer and the conservationist.

Other projects include developing and testing alternative biomass cropping systems, measuring soil moisture and plant water use under different annual-perennial plant communities, and using agroforestry techniques to combine shade pasture and forage while producing woody biomass.

Ecology Initiative leader Jeri Neal said that accounting for the forms of energy used on the farm also is an important part of innovation and diversity. One new project specifically addresses agricultural production energy costs and will attempt to assess the total energy footprint of pigs raised in both conventional and alternative production systems. Another project considers several ways to reduce pesticide and herbicide use in Iowa vineyards.

The Policy Initiative will sponsor one new project, a two-year study to develop state policy alternatives that will encourage sustainable production of biofuels feedstocks.

The special call for a grass-based livestock work team is still under development.

2008 NEW LEOPOLD CENTER GRANT PROJECTS

Marketing and Food Systems Initiative

  • Adding a New Generation to Iowa’s Sustainable Farms
  • Establishing an Iowa Microenterprise Foundation
  • Expanding Business Skills for Specialty Growers in Iowa
  • Grinnell Area Petroleum Replacement Initiative Phase 2
  • Latino Farmers and Local Multicultural Food and Marketing Systems
  • Mapping Biomass Markets in Iowa
  • Measuring the Economic Impacts of Local Food Initiatives at the Regional Level
  • New Farmer Jump-Start Project
  • Pottawattamie County Farm to Fork
  • Producer Machinery and Labor Sharing Arrangements Workshops
  • Researching and Evaluating an Effective Web-Based Local Food Sales Template Phase II
  • Strategies to Effectively Promote and Market On-Farm Retail Enterprises
  • Strengthening the Local and Regional Food System in the Iowa Valley

Ecology Initiative

  • Agronomic, Environmental and Economic Performance of Alternative Biomass
  • Cropping Systems
  • Energy Use and Nutrient Cycling in Pig Production Systems
  • Grazing Prairie: Improving Species Diversity while Maintaining Cattle and Goat
  • Productivity and Resting Home Pastures
  • Providing Shaded Pasture with Perennial Biomass Energy Plantings
  • Soil Moisture Dynamics and Plant Transpiration under Contrasting Annual-Perennial
  • Cover Types

Policy Initiative

  • State Policy Alternatives for Biofuels Industry Support of Sustainable Production of Biofuels Feedstocks

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2008