| HIGHLIGHT EVENTS OF THE LEOPOLD CENTER |
|---|
Southern Iowa landowners, cattle grazing operators and wildlife enthusiasts are invited to attend an evening workshop, Managed Grazing for Cows, Birds and Wildlife," offering August 25 near Kellerton in Ringgold County and again on August 26 near Leon in Decatur County. The workshops are part of a Leopold Center-funded grant project on custom grazing to Practical Farmers of Iowa and Iowa State University Extension. For information, contact ISU Extension specialist Joe Sellers, (641) 774-2016, sellers@iastate.edu.
There are plenty of other opportunities to see what's happening on Iowa farms. Since 1999, the Leopold Center has provided direct support to Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) for its on-farm research demonstration and field day program. The Leopold Center also participates in the Iowa Learning Farm project, a statewide initiative that includes farmer cooperators, agency partners and ISU researchers to build a "culture of conservation" in Iowa. Check our web events calendar for details of upcoming field days at http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/events.htm.
 |
| Nathan Pelletier speaks to Iowa State audience July 21. |
The Leopold Center's new Fruit and Vegetable Working Group hosted two field days for growers interested in production and marketing strategies. The field days were July 21 in Mitchell and Howard counties and July 24 in Shelby County. Participants visited greenhouses and high tunnels used to extend the growing season, orchards and the Cedar Valley Produce Auction. For more information, contact Malcolm Robertson, who helps coordinate the group, at malcolmr@iastate.edu, (515) 294-1166.
The Leopold Center brought a Canadian researcher to Iowa on July 21 to talk about his experiences with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and to work on a joint project that looks at several beef production systems in Iowa. Nathan Pelletier is a doctoral student at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He has researched salmon and tilapia aquaculture systems, conventional and organic field crop production in Canada, and the U.S. poultry broiler industry. Pelletier also has done private sector consulting on LCA in other food systems. His presentation, "A Life Cycle Perspective on Food System Sustainability: Lessons from the Field," will be available on the Leopold Center web site. Check the Leopold Center events page for his report.