2011 brings 19 new research projects

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2011

Work has begun on 19 new projects in the Leopold Center’s long-running competitive grants program. The grants support a wide range of activities, from research on prairie strips to retain nutrients and biochar to improve soil quality, to year-round use of high tunnels for food production and development of resources for immigrant and minority populations who want to farm in Iowa.

Funds for the first year of work on these projects total $595,102. Six projects will be completed after one year, nine projects will run two years, and four projects span three years.

The Center also has renewed or is in the process of renewing 25 grants for multi-year projects already in progress. These projects, and the new work that will begin in 2011, bring the total amount of current grant-funded research at the Leopold Center to about $1.25 million.
Here’s a summary of new work in each of the Center’s research initiatives. See page 11 for the list of all new competitive grant projects.

Ecology: Eight new projects

Several grants support research on how different agricultural systems function within their surrounding environment, such as the effects of trees on stream water quality and the interaction of corn roots and the soil ecosystem. Two grants will expand research on the use of prairie strips within row-cropped watersheds, a new conservation practice being tested at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge near Prairie City. Investigators will look at how birds use these prairie areas. The second related project considers the farmers’ decision-making process for adopting this new practice.

• Blurring the lines between working and conservation lands: Bird use of prairie strips in row-cropped watersheds
• Biochar and managed perennial ecosystems: Testing for synergy in ecosystem function and biodiversity
• Enhancing botanical composition, wildlife habitat and carbon sequestration of pastures in south central Iowa through soil disturbance by mob grazing of beef cattle
• Farmer perspectives on ecosystem service management, land-use targeting and the future of cornbelt agriculture
• Getting the most from Iowa’s forests: Linking forest understory composition to stream water quality and enhancing nutrient capture in forest remnants in agricultural landscapes
• Quantifying eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) in southern Iowa: A starting point for conversations with landowners about threats to grassland resilience
• Systems model and prototype development to capture and use rain water run-off from a high tunnel
• What drives corn yield stability in the context of climate variability?

Cross-cutting: Five new projects

Grants will fund activities related to the emerald ash borer invasion in Iowa, tile drainage water, on-farm research and demonstrations with Practical Farmers of Iowa, the Iowa Farm Energy Working Group, and Iowa State University’s Long-Term Agroecological Research (LTAR) in organic practices. Formalized in 2010, the Cross-cutting Initiative focuses on systems-based research for farming systems that balance competing economic, environmental, social and policy demands.

• Building social networks to capture synergies in wood-based energy production and invasive pest mitigation
• Drainage water quality impacts of current and future agricultural management practices
• Increasing Iowa farmers’ resiliency through the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) cooperators’ program
• Iowa Farm Energy Working Group
• The Long-Term Agroecological Research (LTAR) Experiment: Ecological benefits of organic crop rotations in terms of crop yields, soil quality, economic performance and potential global climate change mitigation

Marketing and Food Systems: Six new projects

Two grants support the development of resources for people in immigrant and minority populations who want to get into farming. In southwest Iowa, investigators will explore the use of high tunnels for year-round crop production, and in central Iowa, project managers will research an online local food buying club. Another project will look at business structure options for a group of producers in south central Iowa who are interested in supplying local food markets.

• Developing permaculture techniques for increased production and profit in sustainable year-round agriculture for beginning farmers and ranchers in southwest Iowa
• In good company (local food distribution feasibility)
• Iowa immigrant and refugee incubator farm program
• Involving new immigrants and minorities in local food systems
• Local food in every pot: Growing farmers in northeastern Iowa through public and private partnerships
• Research and development of an online local foods buying club cooperative
   

Back to Leopold Letter Spring 2011

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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/leopold-letter/2011/spring/2011-brings-19-new-research-projects on 01/21/2013