2006 Leopold Center New Competitive Grant Projects


The following grants are the result of a Summer 2005 Request for Preproposals, which resulted in 62 project submissions. These projects were selected following a competitive review process. More details about the projects are available from each initiative leader.


Marketing and Food Systems Initiative

For questions, contact initiative leader Rich Pirog, (515) 294-1854, rspirog@iastate.edu or go to the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative web page

  • Analysis of transaction costs for small and midsize Iowa farmers, $32,967, 1 year, Clyde Walter, ISU Logistics Operations; Randy Boeckenstedt, Center for Transportation Research and Education, ISU; and Craig Chase, ISU Extension, Tripoli [M2006-02]

  • Assessing needs and fostering agricultural entrepreneurship among immigrants in several Iowa communities, $15,000, 1 year, Lyle Fleshner, M&M Divide RC&D, Carroll [M2006-07]

  • Bridging the Gap: What does it take to bring small and medium-sized producers and retail and food service distributors together? $49,500 over 2 years, Mary Holz-Clause, Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, ISU [M2006-05]

  • Determining the methods for measuring and the extent of economic and fiscal impacts associated with organic crop conversion in Iowa, $15,000, 1 year, David Swenson and Liesl Eathington, ISU Economics, and Craig Chase, ISU Extension, Tripoli [M2006-12]

  • Functional quality management systems for livestock producers, $60,000 over 2 years, John Lawrence, Iowa Beef Center; John Mabry, Iowa Pork Industry Center; and Mary Holz-Clause, ISU Value Added Agriculture Extension [M2006-03]

  • Investigation of economic feasibility of pasture-based dairy operations in Northwest Iowa, $7,500, 1 year, Chris Mondak, ISU Extension, Orange City, and Tom Olsen, Storm Lake [M2006-09]

  • Iowa taste of place project Phase II: Outreach, $10,000, 1 year, Rachelle Saltzman, Iowa Arts Council, Des Moines [M2006-13]

  • New food entrepreneurs - Value added enterprises for farm profitability, $21,188, 1 year, Rich Graves, Wallace House Foundation, and Christine Pardee, Des Moines [M2006-23]

  • Niche-markets in the agricultural enterprise mix: Farm profit optimization and risk analysis, $16,370, 1 year, Shane Ellis, Iowa Beef Center [M2006-16]

  • Plan demonstration farm to include farm business incubator and educational use, $17,850, 1 year, Linda Barnes, Marshalltown Community College, Marshalltown [M2006-24]

  • Planning a facility for value-added farm business incubation and educational use, $7,089, 1 year, Linda Barnes and Tom Deimerly, Marshalltown Community College, Marshalltown [M2006-25]

  • Strategies to stabilize locally grown produce for year round sales: A feasibility study, $53,410 over 2 years, Sam Beattie, Lester Wilson and Aubrey Mendonca, ISU Food Science and Human Nutrition [M2006-21]

  • A survey of currently available commercial broilers originating from organic, natural and conventional production systems for cooked meat yields, meat composition and relative value, $32,793, 1 year, Joseph Sebranek and Dong Ahn, ISU Animal Science, and Sam Beattie, ISU Food Science and Human Nutrition, [M2006-01]


Policy Initiative

For questions, contact interim initiative leader Jerry DeWitt, (515) 294-7836, jdewitt@iastate.edu or go to the Policy Initiative web page

  • Beginning and midsize farm bill analysis and education initiative, $25,000 each of 2 years, Mike Duffy, Beginning Farmer Center, ISU; and Traci Bruckner, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Nebraska [P2006-09]

  • Evaluating the Conservation Security Program utilizing the perceptions and economics of producer participation: Implications for land stewardship in Iowa agriculture, $38,337, 1 year, James Kliebenstein and Denis Reich, ISU Economics [P2006-06]

  • Farm Bill listening sessions, $5,440, 1 year, Leigh Adcock, Iowa Farmers Union Education Foundation, Ames; Kathie Starkweather, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Nebraska; and Niel Ritchie, League of Rural Voters, Minneapolis, Minnesota [P2006-01]

  • Women, land and legacy: Agricultural policy for changing land ownership, $12,686, 1 year, Cassi Johnson, Iowa City, and Denise O’Brien, Atlantic, Women, Food and Agriculture Network [P2006-10]


Ecology Initiative

For questions, contact initiative leader Jeri Neal, (515) 294-5610, wink@iastate.edu or go to the Ecology Initiative web page

  • Grazing compatibility in and for future years, $53,095 over 5 years, Ed Johnston, Southern Iowa Forage and Livestock Committee and John Klein, Natural Resources
    Conservation Service [E2006-01]

  • Integrated soil and weed management production systems for perennial food crops, $39,310 over 2 years, Gail Nonnecke and Craig Dilley, ISU Horticulture, and Tom Loynachan, ISU Agronomy [E2006-02]

  • The role of herbaceous woodland perennial diversity for improving nutrient uptake capacity of riparian areas – phase II, $33,820 over 2 years, Jan Thompson and Cathy Mabry-McMullen, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management [E2006-03]

  • New strategies to enhance sustainability of Iowa apple orchards, $115,798 over 3 years, Mark Gleason, ISU Plant Pathology and Matt Liebman, ISU Agronomy [E2006-04]

  • Bird nesting on rotationally grazed warm- and cool-season grass paddocks in southern Iowa, $31,093 for one year, James Pease and Ryan Marquardt, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management [E2006-05]

  • Optimizing legume establishment in winter small grains, $54,770 over 3 years, Lance Gibson and Jean-Luc Jannink, ISU Agronomy, and Jeremy Singer, USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory [E2006-10]

  • Use of native cover crops to reconstruct native grasslands, $8,380 for 1 year, Brian Wilsey and Andrea Blong, ISU Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology [E2006-11]

  • Development and implementation of low input delivery systems for ethanol coproducts in forage based beef systems, $51,862 over 3 years, Dan Loy, ISU Animal Science and Joe Sellers, ISU Extension [E2006-12]

  • The impact of biodiversity services in rowcrop production in annual versus perennial landscapes, $71,979 over 2 years, Matt O’Neal, ISU Entomology and Lisa A. Schulte, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management [E2006-13]

  • Breeding forage and biomass crops to strengthen perennial agricultural systems, $53,902 over 3 years, E. Charles Brummer, ISU Agronomy [E2006-15]

  • Assessing soil quality impacts after conversion of marginal cropland to productive conservation, $7,292 over 2 years, Tom Sauer, Cindy Camberdella and David E. James, USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory, and Heidi Asbjornsen, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management [E2006-17]

  • Devising a framework for implementing cattle-grazing and fire as management tools on grassland reserves in southern Iowa, $22,147 for one year, James R. Miller, ISU Landscape Architecture and Natural Resource Ecology & Management, and David Engle, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management [E2006-18]

  • Participatory ecology for ‘Agriculture of the Middle’: Developing tools and partnerships to bridge gaps among science, people and policy in landscape change, $54,575 over 3 years, Lisa Schulte and Ryan Atwell, ISU Natural Resource Ecology & Management, and Lynne M. Westphal, USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station [E2006-20]


Back to Spring 2006 Leopold Letter


Published by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-3711
URL: www.leopold.iastate.edu