Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture Timeline: 1987-2012

Center sponsors workshop for grantees on "Measuring Sustainability and Resilience". Major redesign of Center website. Mark Honeyman, coordinator of the ISU Research Farm system and longtime Center collaborator, appointed interim director. A new search for
a permanent director started.

Iowa legislature charges Leopold Center with preparation of Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan. Cross-Cutting Initiative added to research program. Director search is unsuccessful. Lois Wright Morton, ISU rural sociology professor, named interim director.

Center Progress Report moves to on-line publication only. Jerry DeWitt announces plans to retire. Center begins search for new director.

Leopold Center sponsors conferences on water problems: "Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico" and "Learning from the Floods of 2008: Practical Strategies for Resilience." Center begins two-year project with the Agricultural Law
Center at Drake University—the Iowa Landowner and Sustainable Agricultural Land Stewardship Project.

Center marks 20th Anniversary of the passage of the Iowa GWPA with events throughout the year, including a celebratory conference and tours.

Leopold Center undergoes third university program review. Center receives major grant from Henry A. Wallace Center at Winrock International for VCPSA, extending the project. Center begins publishing monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Leopold Center. Jerry DeWitt accepts a three-year term appointment as Center Director.

Center chosen as one of the "supported organizations" for the Garst Family's gift of land for the Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids. Fred Kirschenmann becomes Distinguished Fellow of the Center. Jerry DeWitt, ISU entomology professor, ISU Extension State Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator and longtime advisory board member, becomes interim director.

Ecology Initiative administers U.S. federal grant to complement Green Lands, Blue Waters consortium efforts. Center signs on to help family farms that comprise the disappearing "Agriculture of the Middle." Center’s challenge grant helps launch sustainable ag degree program at Marshalltown Community College.

Center helps start and then funds students in the new ISU Graduate Program for Sustainable Agriculture. VCPSA receives major funding from Kellogg Foundation and forms new working groups in Bioeconomy and Regional Food Systems.

Community Conversations 2002 includes visits with urban/suburbanites in Sioux City, West Des Moines, and the Beaverdale section of Des Moines. Major state budget reversion forces the Center to fund existing research projects only. Center receives grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to support work on "Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture" (VCPSA) led by Center staffer Rich Pirog. Fundraising campaign begins.

Community Conversations in Sioux Center, Hiawatha/Cedar Rapids, Mount Pleasant, Decorah, Lewis, and Greenfield discuss the future of Iowa agriculture. "Niche and Value-Added Marketing: What’s in it for me?" conference spurs the formation of
the Pork Niche Market Working
Group (PNMWG).

Fred Kirschenmann, North Dakota organic farmer and sustainable agriculture leader, becomes the Leopold Center's second director. Six prominent thinkers in the national sustainable agriculture community convene to help shape the Center's future. A plan for three new research initiatives (ecology, marketing and food systems, and policy) is approved.

Dennis Keeney, the Center's first director, announces retirement. Allen Trenkle, Advisory Board member and ISU animal science professor, serves as interim director. Iowa legislature approves transition of four ex officio advisory board members to voting membership. Agroecology issue team's work at Bear Creek honored as one of the nation’s 12 "showcase" watersheds.

LTAR (Long-term Agroecological Research) Initiative begins with Center providing initial funding for ISU's organic agriculture program. Center starts supporting local food systems work. Center participates in endowment of Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU. Center conducts second program review.

Center receives Distinguished Service Award from Iowa Academy of Science. Marking 10 years since passage of the IGWPA, the Center celebrates Year of Water (YOW), more than 70 groups sign on to participate and related programs continue throughout the state in 1997. Formal agreement reached with Practical Farmers of Iowa to conduct on-farm research and demonstration
for the Center. Center creates alternative livestock housing team,
the "Hoop Group."

Swine systems options conference stirs interest and changes attitudes toward alternate swine-raising technologies. Non-Farmers Guide to Agriculture project begun in Johnson County.

Center moves offices to Curtiss Hall. World Wide Web site established (www.leopold.iastate.edu). Weed management issue team started.

Three farmers and one fertilizer retail dealer become ex officio members of the Leopold Center Advisory Board. Regional conference workshop support program established. Fifth summer statewide conference; first with tours.

Iowa flooding washed out Leopold Center statewide conference, but regional conferences are held. Center review conducted. Leopold summer intern program begun. Center receives Innovations in State and Local Government Award from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Center Progress Report (CPR) series established. Strategic planning begun
in preparation for first five-year review. Grassroots Education Delivery
Teams launched.

First Leopold Center conference celebrates opening of Center with Paul Johnson as the keynote speaker. Center embarks on pioneering ISU work in animal waste management. Center offices moved to USDA National Soil Tilth Laboratory on campus.

Dennis Keeney chosen as Center’s first director. Center offices located in ISU Agronomy Hall. First grants awarded, including start-up funds for water quality research site at ISU Northeast Research Farm near Nashua. Animal management, agroecology, manure management, cropping systems, alfalfa IPM, and human systems issue teams formed
with researchers, farmers, and ISU Extension staff.

Farm crisis of the 1980s continues
to impact Iowa agriculture. Iowa Groundwater Protection Act signed
by Governor Terry Branstad creates Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. First Advisory Board meeting held. First grants awarded under leadership of acting director Robert Jolly.