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Thanks to a $25,000 challenge grant
from the Leopold Center, a new sustainable agriculture
degree program will begin later this year at Marshalltown
Community College (MCC).
Sustainable & Entrepreneurial Agriculture will be the first
program of its kind in the Midwest. The first courses will
be offered at MCC during the fall 2004 semester. Students
will be able to earn a two-year Associate in Applied Science
degree, a two-year Associate in Arts degree, or shorter
topic-specific certificates in Sustainable & Entrepreneurial
Agriculture.
Linda Barnes, who teaches biology at MCC, is coordinating
the new program. She said the challenge grant offered in
January has greatly enhanced her efforts to attract
additional funds and interested students.
“I have 17 people waiting to register this fall, which I
feel really good about,” she said. The program also has
received a $10,000 grant from the Martha-Ellen Tye
Foundation for materials and supplies to help match the
Leopold Center’s challenge grant. “These expenses can really
add up when you’re beginning a new program.”
Rich Pirog, who leads the Leopold Center’s marketing
initiative, said the MCC program also will help new people
enter agriculture. “We see this development as a significant
step forward in responding to the needs of Iowa farmers and
entrepreneurs who want to succeed with new business ventures
that are rooted in the principles of sustainable
agriculture,” he said. “We’re really excited about this
program’s potential.”
Barnes and her husband, Mark Runquist, own a seven-acre farm
near Melbourne. They raise organic vegetables, which they
sell at the Marshalltown Farmers Market, and direct-market
turkeys, chicken and sheep. Barnes is passionate about
strengthening the cultural, economic and environmental
impact of Iowa’s family farms.
“Iowa is synonymous with farming,” she said. “Our current
farming system requires enormous capital investments and
heavy reliance on government payments that, at best, have an
uncertain future. Given the fact that the number of farm
jobs in Marshall County, as well as the rest of the state,
is dwindling, and the average age of the Iowa farmer is 57,
where will our new farmers come from?”
Barnes said coursework also will be helpful for existing
farmers who want to sharpen their marketing skills or
diversify their operations. She said she hopes to attract
farmers from Iowa’s immigrant communities who would like to
enter agriculture.
Nine core courses in the new curriculum include a practicum
in which students work with a farmer. In addition to general
education and business courses, other new course topics
include an introduction to sustainable agriculture,
livestock management, vegetable production and
organic/certification standards.
Pirog is a member of the program’s board of advisors. Other
members represent Iowa State University, Practical Farmers
of Iowa, local business interests, ISU Extension, National
Catholic Rural Life and the Iowa Network for Community
Agriculture.
Barnes also is working closely with Robin Kohanowich,
coordinator of the Sustainable Farming Program at Central
Carolina Community College (CCCC). The North Carolina
community college established the nation’s first (and only)
two-year sustainable agriculture program in 2002.
The CCCC program began with one class, “How to Make $5
Million on One Acre,” which gave students an introduction to
the business aspects of a small farm operation. Many of the
courses are taught by farmers who teach on a part-time
basis. Students are required to work 320 hours on a local
farm, and the community college operates a working farm on
its urban campus.
In addition to the MCC grant, the Leopold Center is involved
in a number of other educational efforts. The Center
supports the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture (GPSA)
degree program in ISU’s College of Agriculture, and helped
the ISU College of Business establish a new sustainable ag
minor in its Master of Business Administration (MBA) program
in 2003
For more information about MCC’s new Sustainable &
Entrepreneurial Agriculture program, contact
Linda Barnes
by e-mail, or check the
program's web site. |