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8-7-07
AUGUST 25 FIELD DAY CELEBRATES LEOPOLD CENTER WORK IN NORTHWEST IOWA
SUTHERLAND, Iowa -- What's been the impact of sustainable agriculture practices
in northwest Iowa over the past 20 years and what lies ahead?
That's the question O'Brien County organic farmer Paul Mugge hopes to answer
when he and his wife Karen host an August 25 Practical Farmers of Iowa field day
to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Leopold Center for Sustainable
Agriculture.
The field day will feature a wagon tour of flax and triticale field trials on
the Mugge farm and a round-robin discussion with participants of Leopold
Center-funded projects at Dordt College and with Iowa State University Extension
specialists in the region. At noon, activities move to the nearby Prairie
Heritage Center for lunch, followed by a prairie walk. University of Iowa
professor David Osterberg, one of the authors of the Iowa Groundwater Protection
Act that established the Leopold Center in 1987, will open the discussion about
a sustainable future for northwest Iowa.
Mugge raises corn, soybeans and small grains in an organic rotation on 320 acres
and feeds 2,500 pigs every year. He represents PFI on the board that advises the
Leopold Center and said that from his perspective, projects focusing on
long-term sustainability of agriculture have made a difference in his area.
"The Leopold Center's partnership with PFI and Iowa State University is really
unique, creating a win-win situation for everyone involved," he said. "I know
that I would not have taken the same approach to problems on my own farm had it
not been for the support from these organizations."
Here's the schedule:
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9 a.m. - Wagon tours of flax and triticale trials with
Margaret Smith, ISU Value Added Agriculture Extension; and Mary Wiedenhoeft
and Lance Gibson, ISU Agronomy;
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10 a.m. - Round-robin discussion with Ron Vos, Dordt
College; Joel DeJong, ISU Extension field agronomist, LeMars; and Kathleen
Delate who leads organic research at Iowa State;
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Noon - Lunch at Prairie Heritage Center
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1 p.m. - Prairie Walk, O’Brien County Naturalist Charlene
Elyea
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2 p.m. - Visioning for the next 20 years with David Osterberg,
University of Iowa; Matt Liebman, Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable
Agriculture at ISU; Teresa Opheim, Practical Farmers of Iowa; Mary Holz
Clause, ISU Extension; Rob Marquesee, Woodbury County Economic Development;
and Neil Hamilton, Drake Agricultural Law Center and a member of the
original Leopold Center advisory board.
Directions to the Mugge farm: From Sutherland, take Highway 10 3 miles west and
look for the PFI sign on the north.
Directions to the Prairie Heritage Center: From Sutherland, drive 4.5 miles
southeast on Highway 10, then one mile north on Yellow Avenue.
This field day is sponsored by the Henry A. Wallace Center at Winrock
International, the ISU Department of Agronomy, and Hain Celestial (Spectrum
Organics). All PFI field days are sponsored by the Leopold Center, the Animal
Welfare Institute, Frontier Natural Products, ISU Extension and Organic Valley.
For more information,
contact:
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