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Read
the Request for Pre-proposals
The Leopold Center is seeking ideas for new projects that
can address issues and questions in the Center’s ecology,
marketing and food systems, and policy initiatives.
The Center has distributed a Request for Pre-proposals (RFP)
that explains in detail what type of research and
educational efforts the various initiatives hope to focus on
in the next several years. This was the Center’s first joint
RFP in nearly two years. The Center’s Policy Initiative and
Marketing and Food Systems Initiative issued RFPs in April
2003, followed by an Ecology Initiative RFP in November
2003.
The current RFP covers all three of the Center’s research
and education initiatives. It is open to people who
represent any Iowa nonprofit organization, agency or
educational institution, such as soil and water conservation
districts, schools and colleges, and regional development
groups. There are no restrictions on project partners or
collaborators.
The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is August 1, and
most projects will begin in early 2006. The two-page concept
papers will be reviewed by Center staff and Advisory Board
members who will assess technical merit and relevance to the
Center’s mission.
“We are interested in research that will equip farmers to
meet the challenges ahead,” said director Fred Kirschenmann.
“We want to help establish farming systems that are less
dependent on fossil fuels, that can perform well under
unstable climates, and that retain more of the value of the
production on the farm.”
The long-term goal of the Center’s Ecology Initiative is to
create ecologically friendly systems that are more
resilient, less costly, and more profitable for farmers,
communities, and the environment. Initiative leader Jeri
Neal said she is most interested in projects that identify,
develop and test strategies to help producers transition to
practices and products that will move agriculture toward
that long-term goal.
Marketing and Food Systems Initiative leader Rich Pirog
offers a tightly focused set of interest areas for
prospective grantees, including topics such as market
feasibility studies, food system infrastructure analysis,
research on ecolabels and place-based products, programs
that develop farmer business skills, and economic and
environmental impacts of local and regional food
enterprises.
“We need to explore new market strategies and business
structures for farmers so they can retain more of the value
for their sustainably-raised products,” Pirog said.
Kirschenmann, interim leader of the Policy Initiative, would
like to see research on the 2007 Farm Bill, land values,
land ownership patterns, and Iowa and U.S. laws and policies
that impact processing and marketing options for farmers.
In addition to pre-proposals targeted by the three
initiatives, the Center also will consider pre-proposals on
other relevant sustainable agriculture topics. However,
those pre-proposals should be discussed with a program
leader before a concept paper is submitted.
The RFP is available on the Center’s web site,
www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/rfp/2005.htm, or by
contacting the Leopold Center at (515) 294-3711.
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