Leopold Center - From the Advisory Board Winter 2003 newsletter

Helping farmers adapt to change and remain profitable are two interests that southwest Iowa educator and farmer Doug Beckman hopes to bring to the Leopold Center Advisory Board. He was selected in September by the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation to be one of four farmer representatives on the 17-member board.

Beckman is a director for the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, representing 12 counties in southwest Iowa. He said his Farm Bureau work and similar involvement in other organizations will help him as a member of the Center's advisory board.

"The organizations I belong to have given me the opportunity to work with farmers and agriculture specialists from all over Iowa and the United States," he said. "I have a broad view of how policy, regulation, infrastructure, technology and other things affect the profitability of farming."

In addition to operating a 280-acre farm in Mills County, Beckman serves as county soil and water commissioner and is a member of the Loess Hills Alliance, Iowa Quality Grain Producers Alliance, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Glenwood/Mills County Economic Development Board and the Iowa Soybean Association.

Beckman said he is interested in serving on the Leopold Center Advisory Board because of the role that the Center plays in helping farmers adapt to change.

"Change has always been a constant to civilization," he said. "What people need, desire or demand in relation to food and the environment changes over time and we must adapt to those changes. What was profitable in the past may not be today."

Born in Worthington, Minnesota, Beckman has farmed in Iowa since 1968 with his wife Jeanette. They raise corn and soybeans using a no-till system.

He also taught vocational agriculture, life science and earth science for 28 years in the Glenwood Community School District. His vocational agriculture degree is from South Dakota State University and he has a master's degree in elementary school administration from Creighton University in Omaha.

Beckman said that the mission of the Leopold Center to contribute to the development of profitable farming systems is an important one. And the answer may not be the same for everyone.

"We need to resist the one-size-fits-all attitude," he said. "What works in one area or community may not work in another area or community."

The Leopold Center Advisory Board will be welcoming another new member in early 2005. John Sellers, who will be working with the Center on its new grassland agriculture program, resigned his position at the end of the board's December 9 meeting. Sellers had been an advisory board member since 2002, when he was appointed by the Iowa State Soil Conservation Committee. Sellers will chair the state committee until April 2005.