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2004 Marketing Initiative Grant Profiles
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Web-based interactive decision model for determining economic
feasibility of growing grapes and establishing a small winery for
wine and grape juice |
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$20,000 each year for two years; M. Holz-Clause, ISU Extension
Value Added Agriculture program, and G. Nonnecke, ISU horticulture
(M16-2004)
This project will set up an interactive Web site to
help entrepreneurs who have an interest in growing organic and
non-organic grapes and producing grape juice or wine to have a
realistic understanding of what is needed for a successful
business. They will produce several videos with basic information
about agri-tourism, operating a winery, and marketing decisions.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Mary Holz-Clause
is program manager for the Value Added Agriculture program at Iowa
State University. In that role, she assists value added ag
businesses with market research, feasibility studies, business plans and other key components of business start-up and
expansion. She is director of the Agricultural Marketing Resource
Center (AgMRC). AgMRC is a joint project of Iowa State
University, Kansas State University and the University of
California that provides electronic-web based information for
producers wanting to start value added ag businesses or expand
existing businesses.
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Supply chain
options for bio-based businesses
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$6,997, R.
Lummus, ISU College of Business (M13-2004)
Investigators
will look at existing business structures in bio-based and other
businesses that provide opportunities for producer ownership,
involvement or equity positions across the value chain.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
Project final report [PDF]
 Rhonda
R. Lummus is an associate professor of operations
management at Iowa State University. She earned a Ph.D. in
operations management from the University of Iowa.
Rhonda has been
conducting research on supply chain management for several years,
publishing articles on supply chain strategy and the impact of
demand management strategies on the supply chain. She has been
involved in sustainable agriculture issues while working with her
husband on a farm in Missouri and through the Kellogg-funded
project on bio-based businesses.
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Documenting the costs and benefits of whole animal local meat
purchases by three northeast Iowa institutions |
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$12,500, K.
Enshayan, Center for Energy and Environmental Education,
University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls (M06-2004)
The UNI Local
Food Project will look at economic advantages and other benefits
and costs associated with whole animal purchases of locally raised
and processed meat by UNI, Rudy's Tacos in Waterloo and Bartels
Lutheran Home in Waverly.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Kamyar
Enshayan
is program manager for UNI's Center for Energy and Environmental
Education and directs several community-wide projects. "Buy
Fresh, Buy Local" is designed to make it easier for people to find
locally grown food items. "Yard for Kids" is a community health
education program aimed at significantly reducing the use of lawn
weed killers and reducing children's exposure to these toxins at
schools, parks and home. "UNI Energywi$e" is working to reduce
energy waste on campus, saving considerable dollars.
He is an agricultural engineer and teaches environmental studies
as an adjunct faculty at UNI.
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Company
environmental and social positioning as sources of competitive
advantage: Implications for sustainable agriculture producers |
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$25,820, T. DeCarlo, ISU College of Business (M05-2004)
Researchers will
use a Web-based survey of Midwestern consumers to measure whether
local ownership and perception of public image has any impact on
food products marketed for their positive environmental and social
aspects.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Tom DeCarlo joined the faculty of Iowa State University in 1993 and is
now associate professor and ISU Business Analysis Faculty
Scholar. His research interests in agriculture deal with
strategic marketing issues facing producers, especially smaller, independently-owned
producers. His research projects include topics such as
creating perceived differentiation in the face of physical
product parity, assessing eco-label efficacy, and other
consumer-based marketing projects dealing with sustainable
agricultural issues.
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Market
analysis of alternative crop production in Iowa |
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$25,000,
S. Andrle
and R. Boeckenstedt,
ISU
Center for Transportation Research and Education (M09-2004)
Investigators will develop county-level retail estimates and
methods to conduct sensitivity analyses for selected fresh fruit
and vegetables in Iowa based on various user inputs and
assumptions. The information will be used to evaluate competitive
advantages to market locally or regionally grown produce in Iowa
and the Upper Midwest.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Randy
Boeckenstedt has an interdisciplinary background that includes an
MBA, undergraduate degree in mechanical design, and approximately 13
years of experience with the development of research and
technology deployment programs. Previous fields of interest range
from metal casting to soybean-based industrial lubricants to
various issues of transportation. Active projects include truck
idle reduction, methods to identify advantages for locally grown
fresh produce, administrative support for the Midwest
Transportation Consortium, and ad hoc communications activities
for the Portland Cement Concrete Pavement Center.
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Assessing
the market potential of specialty forest products in local food
systems |
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$10,035, C. Teator and R. Hunt, Trees Forever, Marion (M08-2004)
Project
investigators will look at the potential for production and
marketing of non-timber forest products in regional food systems
(fruit, nuts, woody decorative florals and mushrooms) by
interviewing 25 producers in southeastern and north central Iowa
and current and potential buyers in the same areas, including
wholesale produce auctions and local food marketers. This study
fits within a larger five year Trees Forever program, Working
Watersheds: Buffers & Beyond. One of its primary goals of this
program is to increase the adoption of agroforestry systems as
viable enterprises to complement more conventional agriculture.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Carole
Teator
is Trees Forever program director and principal investigator for
this project. A New Jersey native, she came to Iowa in 1988.
She has master's degrees in English and Community and
Regional Planning from Iowa State University.
 Roger
Hunt, Trees Forever field coordinator in southeast Iowa, also
is working on this project. He is a 1967 graduate of
Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University and provides
landscape design guidance for all Trees Forever program areas.
He
also operates Suntree Farm, a purebred Angus livestock and crop
farm near Columbus Junction, Iowa.
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Local food
capacity in north central Iowa: Nutritional need, economic strategy |
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$9,390, J. Libbey, Kanawha (M21-2004)
This project
brings depth and breadth to an effort to increase access to local
food in the Wright County and north central Iowa area that began
in 2002. This region is typified by conventional commodity
agriculture and little conversation about sustainable agriculture,
but is beginning to change. Activities supported by this grant
include documentation of economic and community impact of local
food, support for agricultural entrepreneurs, and building a
broader base of community involvement in local food support. A
community-wide meeting will be used to release the research
findings and generate a community conversation. A growers meeting
will increase networking among area agricultural entrepreneurs.
Complimentary activities supported with local funds include a
local food directory, a summer local food celebration, and
continuation of a Wright County farmers' market voucher program.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Jan
Libbey farms with her family at One Step at a Time Gardens
east of Kanawha. The family raises high-quality
vegetables, herbs, raspberries and pastured poultry.
They direct market through farm memberships, area
farmers' markets and regional wholesale. She also has
been involved with local
food work. She has spearheaded development of the Belmond Area
Farmers' Market; initiated Here's to Our Health, the Wright
County-based local food project supported, in part, by a
2003-2004 Leopold Center grant; and served as part-time
coordinator for the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture and a
number of related roles.
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Leveraging
student expertise to solve food production marketing problems |
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$15,292, K.M. Palan,
ISU College of Business (M03-2004)
Iowa State University
students will work in teams with Iowa food and fiber producers to
develop marketing plans, strategies and analysis of their
agriculture and food products. The effort combines marketing
students from the College of Business, food science students from
the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and agricultural business
students from the College of Agriculture.
 Kay
Palan joined the faculty of Iowa State University in 1994 and is
now associate professor of marketing. Her research interests in
sustainable agriculture deal with strategic marketing issues faced
by smaller producers as well as the consumer decision-making
behaviors related to food consumption. She also will examine what
Iowans know and understand about regional food systems and how
they learn about regional foods.
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Supporting direct meat marketing in Iowa
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$22,371, G. Huber, Practical Farmers of Iowa, Ames
(M17-2004)
Investigators will conduct a feasibility study of
marketing sustainable meat products through cooperative buying clubs
and CSAs. Workshops on direct marketing for farmers and processors
will be held in northeast and southwest Iowa. They also will
produce materials on successfully marketing grass-based food
products.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 Gary Huber
is a senior member of the Food Systems Program
staff at Practical Farmers of Iowa. He also coordinates the
Pork Niche Market Working Group, an association of more than 30
groups working to address challenges facing niche pork marketing
efforts. He is a certified instructor for the NxLeveLTM
for Agricultural Entrepreneurs Program and teaches marketing for
specialty farmers. His work focuses on developing new markets for
farmers and supporting farmers to successfully sell to these markets.
He has degrees in Agronomy, Public Administration, and Rural
Sociology from Iowa State University.
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Business Organization and Coordination in
Niche Hog Marketing: A Comparative Analysis of Two Niche
Marketers |
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$19,544, J.B. Kliebenstein and B. Hueth, ISU Department of
Economics (M22-2004)
This project has two phases. The first will
consider generic economic, business and legal concerns in the
following areas for niche marketers: timing, quality, process
verification, business organization, and showing returns.
Interviews of producers and managers of two existing organizations
will be conducted. The second phase will focus on
incentive design or premium payments. Alternative premium payment
systems will be compared and evaluated for effectiveness in
improving pork quality and showing returns from the quality
improvement.
 James B. Kliebenstein
is professor of economics at Iowa State University. His
research focuses on the economics of livestock production,
primarily systems are economically viable, environmentally
sustainable and socially acceptable. He is a member of the Hoop
Group research team initiated by the Leopold Center in 1997. He
also is interested in health issues and their associated
economic impacts on producers and the industry. He also teaches
classes in farm business management.
 Brent
Hueth is an associate professor of economics at Iowa State
University. Before coming to ISU, he was a research scientist in the Department of Agricultural and
Natural Resource Economics at the University of California,
Berkeley. His work focuses on coordination and
organizational design issues in agricultural markets.
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Evaluating Market Potential for an Eco-Label Program
in Iowa |
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$20,000, D. Holm, Iowa Institute
for Cooperatives (M14-2004)
Investigators will research and evaluate
market potential for a food ecolabel program -- Food
Alliance certification -- and develop a road map for how
Food Alliance Midwest can work most effectively with
growers and other key organizations and institutions in
Iowa to implement the program.
Summary of research findings [PDF]
 David Holm is the executive director of cooperative
development at the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives (IIC) and will
oversee the administration and planning of this
project. At IIC, he works with boards from
all types of cooperatives on strategic planning, mergers
and consolidations, and he works with groups on the
development of "value added cooperatives." He has
more than 17 years of experience with
cooperatives.
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Analyzing Local Food Systems for Success: Naming
and Graphing Entrepreneurial and Community Based
Agricultural Linkages |
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$11,670, C.R. Smith, National
Catholic Rural Life (M04-2004)
National Catholic Rural Life
Conference (NCRLC) is partnering with the Iowa
Network for Community Agriculture (INCA) to map
technical information and relationships by asking people
in Adair, Audubon, Greene, Guthrie and Shelby counties to draw a picture of
their local food system.
Analysis of the maps will provide information such
as:
- Local resources for food systems
- Understandings about where
value is already added within the local system
- Gaps in the local system
that could provide opportunities for local farmers
and entrepreneurs, and
- Issues that need to be
addressed for further system development
Summary
of research findings [PDF]
 Carol Richardson Smith leads DIRECTIONS,
a program of the Ligutti Rural
Community Support Program in the National Catholic Rural
Life Conference. An important part of her
program is a local emphasis in five western Iowa
counties to develop and
connect information, resources, and support for
entrepreneurship and local food systems.
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