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11-3-06
SPENCER AWARD FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE GOES TO IOWA FARM FAMILY
AMES, Iowa – A Shelby County family whose commitment to small farms extends well
beyond Iowa have been honored with one of the state's largest awards in
sustainable agriculture.
Ron and Maria Vakulskas Rosmann, along with their sons David, Daniel and Mark,
will receive the 2006 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture during the
Iowa
Organic Conference November 20 in Ames. The Rosmanns farm 600 acres, all
certified organic, near Harlan.
The Spencer Award, administered by the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture, recognizes farmers, researchers and educators who have made a
significant contribution toward the stability of mainstream family farms in
Iowa. The award is named for Norman A. and Margaretha Spencer who farmed near
Sioux City for 40 years and includes $1,000 from the Spencer family.
The Rosmanns raise corn and soybeans, most of which is marketed for use in
organic food products, and oats, rye, barley, hay and flax. They rotationally
graze a 90-head Red Angus cow herd, and have a 50-sow, deep-bedded, farrow-to-finish
operation. The family has been recognized for their soil conservation practices;
they maintain 40 acres of permanent headlands, grass waterways, terraces, buffer
strips, as well as a 2.5-acre woodland they planted in 1993.
Ron Rosmann is a founding board member of the grassroots organization, Practical
Farmers of Iowa, and is a former president and board member of the
California-based Organic Farming Research Foundation. He also is a member of the
Shelby County Extension Council and the Leopold Center's Grassland Agriculture
advisory committee, and serves as treasurer of the newly organized Iowa Organic
Association.
Maria Vakulskas Rosmann operates the family's private label, direct market
organic meat business, which they started in 1997. Their organic beef and pork
is marketed to Organic Valley Family Farms and sold throughout the Midwest.
Daniel Rosmann, 23, a recent Iowa State University graduate in agronomy, has
joined the family operation. David Rosmann, 25, also an ISU graduate, is a rural
organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement in Des Moines. Mark
Rosmann, 20, is a junior in agronomy and history at ISU.
Both Ron and Maria Rosmann have been active in agricultural policy circles,
testifying five times before the U.S. House and Senate Agriculture committees,
most recently in August for hearings on the 2007 Farm Bill. They have hosted
more than 30 field days and welcomed no less than 1,500 visitors from Australia,
China, Japan, Lithuania, Argentina and Brazil.
The award presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Scheman Building at the
ISU Center. The public is invited to attend, but must register for the
conference if they want lunch. For more information about the conference,
contact Haley Cook at (515) 294-0196, hecook@iastate.edu.
The Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture has been presented since 2002. The
Leopold Center's advisory board and past recipients select each year's honoree
from submitted nominations.
For more information,
contact:
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