Center hosts
two workshops at PFI winter conference
The Leopold Center will co-sponsor Friday afternoon
workshops on forage management and food distribution systems
as part of the Practical Farmers of Iowa annual winter
conference in January.
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“Growing High Quality Forage: Risk
Management for Volatile Weather,” presented by Terry
Gompert, holistic management trainer and Nebraska
Extension educator. The workshop will be moderated by
Jerry DeWitt, Interim Leopold Center Director, with
experiences offered by Iowa producers Tom German, Steve
Reinart, Torray Wilson and Leo Benjamin; and
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“Creating New Iowa Food Distribution
Systems,” presented by Gary Huber of PFI and Rich Pirog
from the Leopold Center.
Both workshops will be offered on Friday,
January 12, 12:30-4 p.m. at the Airport Holiday Inn of Des
Moines. The conference theme is “Paths to Prosperity” and
will continue on Saturday with concurrent sessions and an
all-Iowa noon meal.
Cost for the Friday session is $20 for PFI
members and $35 for nonmembers (discounts offered for
registrations postmarked by December 20). More information
is available on the Practical Farmers of Iowa web site:
www.practicalfarmers.org.
November
workshop highlights Center's marketing, food
projects
Information can be transmitted electronically, via
the printed word, by photographs and other images;
but when shared from one person to another,
information becomes communication.
The Leopold Center Marketing and Food Systems
Initiative’s second annual workshop on November 6
was filled with communication. Nearly 200 people
participated in the day’s events that featured
reports on more than 30 marketing projects and a
locally sourced meal at the Gateway Center in Ames.
“The Marketing and Food Systems Initiative has been
about finding market solutions for Iowa farmers and
businesses,” said initiative leader Rich Pirog.
“We’ve had 55 projects over five years, and our
workshops have created a learning community that
stimulates even more new ideas and projects.”
Presentations focused on everything from exploring
the use of empty convenience stores as a community
site for processing vegetables to using computerized
models to determine the most profitable mix of
enterprises in an operation. One project
investigated the stories behind unique Iowa-based
products such as mettwurst (a type of sausage),
kringla and sorghum molasses. Another project
included a survey to determine the economic impact
of visitors to Iowa wineries.
Materials presented at the workshop are
available on the Leopold Center web site at:
www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/marketing_files/workshop06/index.htm.
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