Farmer joins advisory board

A southern Iowa farmer active in renewable energy and conservation issues is the newest member of the Leopold Center Advisory Board. John Sellers, Jr., of Corydon has been named to represent the State Soil Conservation Committee of Iowa on the center’s 17-member advisory board. He replaces Dave Williams of Villisca, who had held the position since 1993 and most recently was board chair.

New member John Sellers

Sellers owns a 520-acre farm in northern WayneCounty that lies along the Iowa-Missouri state line. Although he grows some corn, oats and hay for a small cattle operation, most of his farm is used for raising switchgrass, a native crop he began planting about 20 years ago to improve wildlife habitat and reduce soil erosion. In recent years, however, the switchgrass has been harvested for another use: to burn with coal to generate electricity.

Sellers is field coordinator for the Chariton Valley Biomass Project and president of a switchgrass growers group, Prairielands Bioproducts, Inc. Also active in a number of organizations that promote bio-fuels, Sellers is a frequent speaker about renewable energy and Iowa's role in a bio-based economy.

"I talk to a lot of farmers and I think the LeopoldCenter has a groundswell of support among switchgrass growers," Sellers said. "The LeopoldCenter has laid so much of the groundwork for helping Iowa move toward sustainability, and funding projects that would have struggled otherwise. The LeopoldCenter has had a huge impact on those projects and thousands of Iowans who have benefited from them."

Sellers brings nearly 30 years of experience as commissioner on the Wayne Soil and Water Conservation District. He was elected commissioner in 1973, taking over from his father, John, Sr. He was appointed to the State Soil Conservation Committee, and served on the Governor's Energy Task Force. He chairs the Iowa Farm Bureau's Hay and Forage Advisory Committee, co-chairs the Iowa Grassland Alliance, and is incoming president of the Iowa Forage and Grasslands Council and on the board of directors for the American Forage and Grasslands  Council.

He said he sees exciting days ahead for Iowa related to renewable energy, carbon sequestration and conservation of natural resources.

"Sustainable agriculture is the future of Iowa and agriculture in the Midwest," he said. "We need to become more self-sufficient with our energy, and I think it's possible to do that if we keep working at it."

Fred Kirschenmann and outgoing chair Dave Williams

New chair Jim Penney

Sellers is one of five farmer members on the advisory board, each appointed by different organizations including the Iowa Farm Bureau, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Iowa Farmers Union and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Iowa.

Coop manager becomes new chair

Jim Penney, general manager of the Heart of Iowa Coop based in Roland, was elected chair at the board's September 5 meeting.

He succeeds Dave Williams of Villisca, who had been an advisory board member since 1993 and chair for the past two years. Penney, a certified professional agronomist, oversees the coop with operations in eight communities. Penney has been a member of the Leopold Center Advisory Board since 1996 as the Iowa Agribusiness Association's co-representative with Craig Struve of Calumet.

DallasCounty farmer Marvin Shirley, who represents the Iowa Farmers Union, assumes the vice-chair position on the board. Tom Fogarty, a geography professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, is the advisory board's member at-large.