Leopold Center - Grants fund development of sustainable products

AMES, Iowa -- Thirteen grants totaling more than $80,000 have recently been awarded to support research and development for innovative Iowa businesses that focus on sustainably raised flax, switchgrass, produce, pork and dairy products.

The grants are from the Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture (VCPSA) project at Iowa State University.

The goal of the VCPSA project is engage both the university and the private sector in supporting new and existing value chains -- from grower to processor and distributor -- for sustainably raised Iowa foods and fiber. Three working groups are assisting value chains for niche pork, bio-based products and local and regional foods.

"The grants are funding a wide range of projects," said project director Rich Pirog, who also oversees marketing and food systems projects at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. "But one common thread is that they address critical issues within these value chains that impact farmer and producer profitability."

The Value Chain Partnerships project began in 2002 with a planning grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Since then, Pirog said the project has involved more than 50 public, private and nongovernmental organizations in its Pork Niche Market Working Group, BioEconomy Working Group and Regional Food Systems Working Group.

In many cases, VCPSA funds have been used as seed grants for larger projects or to generate matching funds from collaborating agencies or organizations, he added.

Bio-based projects
The BioEconomy Working Group funded six projects including two associated with flax and one that explores the use of switchgrass as a feedstock for biobased plastic. Another company is investigating the use of corn-based yogurt containers.

Flax is a widely cultivated plant with pale blue flowers, seeds that yield linseed oil, and slender stems that can be used for textile fiber. Researchers will investigate the oil and fiber characteristics of several varieties grown in different Iowa environments and help Iowa flax growers improve their ability to negotiate contracts and pursue additional marketing avenues for oilseed and food flax. Additionally, marketing opportunities for flax straw and fiber co-products also will be investigated.

Another grant will identify potential collection sites along the Iowa Northern Railway for crop residuals. The group is developing a logistics system capable of moving 80,000 tons to 500,000 tons of corn stover to a processing facility. Corn stover is all of the corn plant above the ground, not counting the grain, and efforts will be made to ensure adequate stover remains for soil cover.

Pork niche project
In the Pork Niche Market Working Group, a $10,000 grant will be used to develop cost of production data on at least 50 farms in Iowa and surrounding states that raise pork for niche markets, either certified organic or without antibiotics in deep bedded systems. Approximately $20,000 in federal earmark funds from the Iowa State University Hoop Group will be used to complete the project.

The pork working group is the longest running effort in the VCPSA project. The group has awarded 16 grants using $72,271 of VCPSA funds, but the group has leveraged $418,954 from other organizations and agencies for niche pork research and development projects. PNMWG-funded work includes herd health issues, alternative structures for winter farrowing, transportation and delivery systems, and marketing research.

Regional food systems projects
In the Regional Food Systems Working Group, the 2005 grants will fund six projects, including potential sales of value-added products in Iowa convenience stores and a heritage variety of an Iowa apple.

Another grant will apply the five- and seven-a-day guidelines for fresh fruit and vegetables to Iowa in a manner that could create markets for local growers. The information is used on a prototype spreadsheet, developed as part of a Leopold Center marketing initiative grant, that shows county-by-county estimates of supply and demand for various food crops.

Marketers also will be working with Naturally Iowa, LLC, a group of dairy farmers in Clarinda that produces "natural" milk, yogurt and ice cream. They will be test-marketing the products in natural food stores, mainstream grocery stores with natural food sections, and food service venues in Iowa and Nebraska to determine the level of volume and profit needed to expand into these markets.

VCPSA is a project of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa State University Extension, the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture and the ISU College of Agriculture.

VCPSA began in July 2002 with a $100,000 planning grant as part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Food and Society Initiative. In March 2003, VCPSA received a $560,000 Kellogg Foundation grant to continue work through 2005. It was one of 10 projects funded at colleges and universities nationwide as part of the Higher Education-Community Partnership in the foundation's larger Food and Society Initiative.

To learn more about VCPSA, visit the project web site at www.valuechains.org.

2005 BioEconomy Working Group projects