Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Previous Working Groups & Research Teams

See information about current working groups and research teams supported by the Leopold Center.

Fruit and Vegetable Working Group
The Fruit and Vegetable Working Group is comprised of growers and buyers and various supporting organizations. Its aim is to strengthen the production, handling and marketing capacity of Iowa’s fruit and vegetable industries. The group operated as part of the Value Chain Partnerships project and developed several tools to help small growers with post-harvest handling. 2007 - 2011.

Small Meat Processors Working Group
The Small Meat Processors Working Group operated as part of the Value Chain Partnerships program from 2007 to 2010. It formed in 2006 with the goal of promoting rural development by helping small Iowa meat processors expand, upgrade or build new facilities. Small meat processing plants are necessary for the vitality of Iowa's agriculture and rural lifestyle, but they have suffered a sharp decline.

Flax Working Group
The Flax Working Group operated as part of the Value Chain Partnerships program from 2005 to 2007. When a Cherokee company called Biowa Nutraceuticals built a processing facility for organic flax in 2004, the group was formed to help Iowa farmers develop a profitable enterprise for flax. The group was co-facilitated by ISU Value Added Agriculture and Practical Farmers of Iowa.

Bioeconomy Working Group
The Bioeconomy Working Group operated as part of the Value Chain Partnerships program from 2003 to 3006. It met four times a year in Ames to discuss ways to grow Iowa's biomass feedstock production and encourage the use and commercialization of Iowa bioproducts. Research and development projects included biofibers in plastics, kenaf production, flax fiber quality and corn stover transportation.

Long Term Agro-Ecological Research
LTAR began in 1997 with the first Organic Ag Focus Groups in Iowa. The Leopold Center funded the group from 1998-2002 to study side-by-side comparisions of organic and conventional agriculture. Kathleen Delate from ISU led the team, and most of the research took place at ISU's Neely-Kinyon Farm near Greenfield. More information is available at ISU Extension's Organic Agriculture website.

Animal Management Issue Team
This team, supported by the Leopold Center from 1990 to 2002, studied forage-based beef production systems that sustain or enhance environmental quality. Led by James R. Russell from ISU Animal Science, researchers evaluated summer systems that utilize legume forage species and intensive rotation grazing, as well as winter systems that minimized the cost of using stored feeds by extending the grazing season. A variety of research continues in this area.

Weed Management Team
This team conducted a farmer attitude survey to gain a better understanding of factors driving management decisions, and developed user-friendly weed growth indices. Researchers examined emergence data and conducted field evaluations at Iowa sites. Robert Hartzler from ISU Agronomy led the team, 1995 - 2000.

Human Systems Issue Team
This team investigated social, economic and policy factors that affect trends in sustainable farming. Study topics included Iowa farmers' adoption of reduced-input farming practices, socioeconomic factors affecting sustainability in livestock production, impacts of sustainable agriculture on rural community viability, community perceptions of water quality impacts from hog confinements, and other issues. Gordon L. Bultena and Steven C. Padgitt from ISU Sociology led the team, 1989 - 1997.

Cropping Systems Issue Team
The Cropping System team was charged with developing an environmentally sustainable and profitable cropping system. The team focused on strip intercropping (three or more crops grown in contiguous narrow strips) and later legumes, in collaboration with the Animal Management Issue Team. Richard Cruse from ISU led the team from 1989 to 1995.

Integrated Pest Management Team
This team formed shortly after a major alfalfa disease outbreak in Iowa. The team's goals were to integrate biological, cultural and chemical controls into IPM decision models and deliver environmentally and economically sound IPM systems for targeted pests, the alfalfa weevil and potato leafhopper. John Obrycki from ISU Entomology led the team from 1990 to 1995. Learn more about ISU's integrated crop management.

Manure Management Team
This team considered ways to encourage sustainable animal production in Iowa, improve profitability of integrated crop/livestock systems, minimize external resource use and protect the environment. Their research included the economic pressures causing animal production operations to become larger, more concentrated and more expensive. They also looked at the impacts of swine manure on water resources. Stewart W. Melvin from ISU led the team, 1990 - 1995.