Leopold Notes January 2011

FROM THE INTERIM DIRECTOR
The new year brought much excitement – and activity – to the Leopold Center while we put the finishing touches on the Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan and delivered it to the Iowa Legislature on its opening day, January 10. The plan culminated nearly a year of listening sessions, information-gathering and hard work to develop a set of recommendations that could help build local food commerce in Iowa.

Moreover, this plan represents ideas and strategies suggested by Iowans throughout the state (more than 1,000 people in 95 of 99 counties). Legislators asked us to lead this project, and we’ve done our best. Now the rest will be up to lawmakers, various state agencies and other organizations. Please take a few minutes to look over the plan at the links below. – Lois Wright Morton

GRANTS FOR ON-FARM RESEARCH
Want to test out a new idea on your farm? Check out a unique program that pairs farmers with Iowa State University researchers to work on topics related to conservation and sustainability. The program is a partnership of the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Leopold Center. Proposals are due on February 23, Details and forms are on the Leopold Center website.

CLOSING THE GAPS
A Leopold Center grant is supporting food safety workshops for fruit and vegetable farmers at seven locations throughout Iowa in January and February. The workshops will look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s good agricultural practices (GAPs) that address microbial food safety hazards for unprocessed fruits and vegetables from the farm to retail. The workshops also will cover the implications of recent federal food safety legislation on small growers. Locations of each workshop and how to register are on the Leopold Center website.

CLIMATE, AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
No matter how you describe it, Iowa’s weather is changing, and will be the topic of the annual Shivvers Memorial Lecture on Sunday, February 6. ISU professor Gene Takle, who served on a committee that recently submitted an Iowa Climate Change Report to the Iowa legislature, will present the lecture, “Will Climate Change Impact the Sustainability of Iowa Farms?” The speech will begin at 7 p.m., in the Sun Room of Iowa State’s Memorial Union Sun Room. Details here

EXPERT ADVICE
The Leopold Center sponsored four food value chain consultants who met with farmers, businesses and community leaders in 16 Iowa communities last fall. They visited local food groups in the Center-led Regional Food Systems Working Group. The Leopold Center used funds from the USDA’s Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG) program to provide this technical assistance to the local food groups. The consultants included Anthony Flaccavento, founder of Appalachian Sustainable Development; Rink DaVee, a local foods aggregator from Madison, Wisconsin; Tom Kalchik, who has worked in northern Michigan in food processing; and Leslie Schaller, who has expertise on local food system infrastructure and kitchen incubator facilities.

MONTHLY WEDNESDAY WEBINARS
Iowa Learning Farms is hosting a series of webinar on the third Wednesday of each month, to be held over the noon hour through Adobe Connect. The first will be presented January 19 on “the culture of conservation”. Details on the ILF website

COVER CROP DIRECTORY
A directory of sources for cover crop seed, equipment and businesses that offer aerial application in Iowa has been updated by Practical Farmers of Iowa. The Cover Crop Business Directory was compiled for the Iowa Cover Crop Working Group, which is supported by the Leopold Center Ecology Initiative. A link to the directory appears on the working group web page

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