Comments by Elaine Spencer
Presentation of the 2003 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture to
David, Diane and Dresden Petty
August 9, 2003

Our family is delighted to be part of awarding the 2003 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture to the Petty family.

This award seeks to advance two things that were life-long commitments of our parents.

The first is Iowa State University. Our parents believed that as one of the oldest land grant universities in the nation, its mission was not only to educate young people, but also through its research, education and extension to make a major difference in the lives of Iowans. The Leopold Center, by focusing its efforts on the preservation of sustainable agriculture and the family farm, carries out the fullest realization of that mission.

The second was their personal commitment to sustainable agriculture and the family farm. My parents believed that family farmers were the best possible foundation for decent, reliable communities, which formed the building blocks of a decent, enlightened greater society. Sustaining the viability of family farming was a passion for my father particularly.

He believed something else, however, of equal importance. That was that the land he farmed, as had his father and grandfather before him, did not "belong" to him. It belonged to all people of all time, and he was but its steward for his generation. He believed that it was each farmer's obligation to leave his land more productive than he found it, so that the land could continue to serve the needs of each succeeding generation. That mirrors the teachings of Aldo Leopold, for whom the Leopold Center is named, and is the essence of what "sustainable agriculture" means.

The Petty family's work has epitomized that belief. They stand as an example that family farms can remain financially successful, while at the same time exercising the most enlightened stewardship. Bob and I, and our families join the Leopold Center and Governor Vilsack in congratulating them on their receipt of this award.

Comments by Jim Penney
Presentation of the 2003 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture tto
David, Diane and Dresden Petty
August 9, 2003

As chair of the Leopold Center Advisory Board, I am pleased that the Leopold Center was asked to administer this award. The Leopold Center's success depends on people who are willing to take our research one step further -- and adopt sustainable agricultural practices on their own farms and in their own communities.

David and Diane Petty and their daughter Dresden are an outstanding example of what it means to put sustainable agriculture to work.

The Petty family owns and operates the Iowa River Ranch that follows a scenic portion of the Iowa River in Hardin County. Their farm enhances that natural beauty, yet is a productive part of the wider community. To do this, the Petty family turned marginal cropland and overgrazed pastures into a series of connecting paddocks, on which they rotationally graze a commercial Angus herd. They've built holding ponds, dug wells, installed underground water lines, and reseeded with quality forage. Whether they own the land or lease it, they've invested in conservation for the long term.

The same is true of their corn and soybean operation. The Petty family has built 13 miles of terraces, reshaped more than 11 miles of waterways, and seeded three miles of buffers to control soil erosion, improve water quality, and establish wildlife habitat. I am told their farm is home to literally hundreds of deer, wild turkey and waterfowl.

In 2001, the Petty family received the National Environmental Stewardship Award from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. In 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency gave Dave Petty its top environmental excellence award in the Kansas City region, the first given to a farmer.

I could go on. Many people in this arena also could tell you many other ways that the Petty family have been leaders in sustainable agriculture and in the Iowa Cattlemen's Association. For these and many other things I do not have time to describe today, I am honored to recognize David, Diane and Dresden Petty as recipients of the 2003 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture.

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