Leopold Center funds 33 new projects in 2009
List of 2009 new competitive grants
More details about new marketing, ecology, policy and cross-initiative grantsGiven the economic situation and uncertain revenue streams, the Leopold Center has taken a measured approach to its competitive grants program this year. Project investigators were given tentative approval to begin work on 2009 projects in February, with final approval pending the outcome of the state budgeting process in late spring.
“We have been able to absorb the university-wide budget reversion in the current fiscal year, and we are planning for a reduction in next year’s fiscal budget that begins July 1,” said Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt. “We will be able to fund our new and renewed grant projects this year, but we probably will not be able to fund as many projects in 2010.”
The 33 competitive grants that began earlier this year will fund a wide range of projects and activities that support work in the Center’s marketing, ecology and policy initiatives. The projects will receive $708,936 for their first year of work, and were selected in a competitive process that began last summer. Grants for 11 of the new projects are for one year, 16 projects will run two years, and six grants are for three years.
The Center also has renewed or is in the process of renewing 19 grants for multi-year projects already in progress. These projects bring the total amount of current grant-funded research at the Leopold Center in 2009 to about $1.1 million.
DeWitt said all projects were evaluated on their potential to provide economic sustainability for farmers, conserve Iowa’s soil and water resources, contribute to the social fabric of Iowa’s rural communities, work with partners, and build on the Center’s work in its three initiatives.
The 2009 grants include 18 new projects in the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative. The projects help address key challenges in regional food distribution and market development for farmer networks, as well as technical assistance for beginning and immigrant farmers.
Eleven new grants are part of the Center’s Ecology Initiative. Projects look at potential roles for woody biomass in an emerging bioeconomy, alternatives to wetlands for capturing soil field nutrient losses, grazing and livestock systems, third crops such as canola, and measuring the benefits of perennials on the landscape.
The Policy Initiative will sponsor two new projects: the potential for Iowa’s farmers to supply biomass markets and ways for farmers interested in sustainability to use financial and risk management tools more effectively. Two grants cross all initiatives to fund an on-farm energy working group and on-line programs for beginning farmers.
2009 NEW LEOPOLD CENTER GRANT PROJECTS
Marketing and Food Systems Initiative
- A Food Distribution Network for the Northern Iowa Food and Farm Partnership
- Accelerating Latino Leadership in Educational Initiatives for Entrepreneurial and Ecological Farming: Building a Culturally-Responsive Community of Practice
- An Automated Mechanical Intra-row Weed Removal System for Vegetable Crops
- Building Student Awareness and Involvement in the Farm to ISU Program
- Cultivating the Agrarian Dream: Aspiring Agri-Entrepreneurs Helping One Another Choose Their Path
- Developing and Implementing a Strategic Plan for Farm-to-School Programs in Northeast Iowa
- Developing Production, Processing and Marketing of Aronia Berries on Small Family Farms in Southeast Iowa
- Enhancing Value and Marketing Options for Pawpaw by Developing Pulp Separation and Preservation Techniques
- Experiential Educational Engagement with Working Groups and Communities of Practice
- Feasibility Study for the Creation of a Meat Processing Training Program in Iowa through the Community Colleges
- Growing Up Local: A Value Chain Analysis of Local Produce in Iowa
- High-Tunnel Resource Manual and Producer Resource Kit Providing the Tools for Profitability
- Life Cycle Assessment of Confinement and Pasture-based Dairying in Iowa: Impacts and Options for Mitigation
- Pottawattamie County Farm to Fork (Phase III)
- Research and Assistance in Support of the Foodsheds in the Upper Midwest Initiative to Measure the Economic Impacts of Increased Local Food Production and Consumption
- Routing Foods into Southeast Iowa
- The Actual Cost of Food Systems on Roadway Infrastructure
- Update of the Iowa Produce Market Calculator Web Site
Ecology Initiative
- Assessment of Woody Biomass as a Niche Feedstock for Biobased Products in Iowa
- Corn Silage Test Plot to Increase Profitability for Dairy Farmers and Reduce Winter Wind & Water Erosion
- Evaluating Canola as an Alternative Oilseed Crop and Enhancing Winter Cover in Iowa
- Evaluating Denitrifying Bioreactors for Edge-of-Field Nitrogen Management in Iowa’s Tile-Drained Landscapes
- Feasibility of Unheated Large Gutter-Connect Greenhouses for Iowa Winter Organic Vegetables
- Greenhorn Grazing: A Modular Pasture and Animal Management Curriculum for Beginning and Transitioning Graziers
- Land Use Conversion to Perennial Vegetation: Quantifying Soil Water Regime and Aeration and the Implications for Enhancing Soil Resilience to Climate Change
- Optimizing Buffer Strips for Improved Ecosystem Services
- Performance of Cropping Systems Designed to Reduce Nitrate Leaching into Shallow Municipal Well Aquifers
- Quantifying the Effect of Perennial Vegetation on Soil and Water Quality
- Site Specific Implementation of Practices that Alter the Spatial/temporal Distribution of Grazing Cattle to Improve Water Quality of Pasture Streams in the Rathbun Lake Watershed
Policy Initiative
Cross-Initiative
- Iowa Farmers and Credit, Crop Insurance and Sustainable Agriculture
- Shaping a Functional and Sustainable Biofuels Industry through Bridging Industrial Needs with Farmer Production Capabilities
- Meeting On-farm Energy Needs through Conservation, Efficiency and Renewable Energy
- On-Line Learning: Using Webinars to teach about Succession and Enterprise Development Issues