Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University was created in 1987 as part of the Iowa Groundwater Protection Act. The goals of the Center have been to identify and develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources as well as reducing negative environmental and social impacts. 

The Center is named for Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), a native of Burlington, Iowa, known internationally as a conservationist, ecologist, and educator. He saw the need for development of a land ethic, outlined in his 1949 book of essays, A Sand County Almanac.

Mark Rasmussen is the Leopold Center director.  A 17-member Advisory Board advises the director on policies, budget and program review.

Completed Grants The Leopold Center's full set of grant reports have now been summarized and posted to the ISU Library’s digital repository at https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/leopold_grantreports/

Leopold Center News

Dinsmore named interim director for Leopold Center, beginning July 1
Headshot of Stephen J. Dinsmore
June 18, 2021

Professor Stephen J. Dinsmore, chair of the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University, has been named interim director for the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, effective July 1, 2021. He will take over when current director Mark Rasmussen retires June 30.
 

Lessons Learned from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, June 23 webinar
June 18, 2021

AMES, Iowa –  Iowa Learning Farms is “looking back to look ahead” through a webinar June 23 at noon that focuses on the history and progress of sustainability titled “Lessons Learned from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.”

FFAR Awards $2 Million to Improve Sustainability in Corn Production
Map of U.S. shows study locations in the Midwest Corn Belt.
June 15, 2021

The Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) has awarded a $2,044,214 grant to Iowa State University researchers led by associate professor Sotirios Archontoulis, agronomy, which will evaluate how maize breeding, field management and environment affect sustainable corn production. Additional support from partners including Iowa State University, Bayer Crop Science, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Purdue University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will bring the project to a total investment of $4,089,857. Read more. 

Innovative technology tracks cattle feed intake to support studies at Iowa State research farms
black cattle at automated feeder
June 1, 2021

 The automated C-Lock Super SmartFeed System arrived last year at the McNay Memorial Research Farm near Chariton in Lucas County and is being used to monitor cattle and calves’ feed intake in research trials. Support to purchase the feeder came from the Iowa Beef Council, the Illinois Beef Association Checkoff Division and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.  Read more. 

All News

Of Interest

A research article coauthored by Mark Rasmussen has been selected by the board of the Soil and Water Conservation Society as the 2021 recipient of the Best Research Paper for Impact and Quality Honorable Mention. The article, "The role of ruminants in reducing agriculture's carbon footprint in North America," in the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, was co-authored by Teague, W.R., S. Apfelbaum, R. Lal, U.P. Kreuter, J. Rowntree, C.A. Davies, R. Conser, J. Hatfield, T. Wang, F. Wang, and P. Byck. The award recognizes the impact and quality of a research paper published in the journal in the previous five years. The award will be recognized virtually during the 76th SWCS International Annual Conference taking place on July 26-28, 2021. 

Mark Rasmussen shares comments about Paul Johnson's legacy in the article, "Remembering Two Giants of Iowa Agriculture," by Gene Lucht in Iowa Farmer Today, Feb. 25, 2021. 

Jazlyn Beeck, a junior in geology at Iowa State, won best undergraduate poster for "Pedogenic carbonate concretions in Iowa's Loess soils: A modern carbon sink?" at the 2020 Geological Society of America's North Central meeting, where she presented a lightning talk on the same topic. Her co-authors included LCSA Director Mark Rasmussen. 

Listen in as  KQLX-AM Farm Talk Podcast host Mike Kjar talks with Mark Rasmussen about the Leopold Center for a stewardship Wednesday interview, May 20, 2020.

A 10-year field-scale study on the effects of winter rye cover crops on corn and soybean yields showed no significant impacts on cash crop yields attributable to cover crop use. The study by Iowa Learning Farms and Practical Farmers of Iowa was supported by state funders and LCSA.  

New research shows integrated organic crop and livestock production systems can conform to food safety standards. In-kind support from the Leopold Center provided student assistance for the research, led by Kathleen Delate, professor of horticulture and agronomy at Iowa State, and Angela Shaw, associate professor of food science and huan nutrition at ISU. 

Findings of LCSA-supported research on the "effect of social cohesion and social networks on perceptions of food availability among low-income consumers" are published in the "Journal of Business Research," January 2020.