Policy Initiative

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This initiative supports policy options that foster a sustainable agriculture. This includes policies to help beginning farmers establish ecologically sound and profitable farming and marketing operations, that reward farmers for producing public goods such as ecologically restored landscapes, and that modify regulations which sometimes put locally owned micro-enterprises at a competitive disadvantage.

Projects

Competitive grant  The initiative will fund a two-year study to develop state policy alternatives that will encourage sustainable production of biofuels feedstocks. Read project profile 

Previous projects  Read about projects that began in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

Reports

• Local food, local policy: A case study on engaging policy makers in the development of their foodshed, Final report of a special project funded by the Leopold Center and conducted by the Johnson County Local Food Alliance, October 2007  

• Giving a Beginner a Chance in the 2007 Farm Bill [PDF], Project funded by the Leopold Center Policy Initiative and conducted by the Center for Rural Affairs, May 2007  

• The Impact and Benefits of USDA Research and Grant Programs to Enhance Mid-size Farm Profitability and Rural Community Success [PDF], Project funded by the Leopold Center Policy Initiative and conducted by the Center for Rural Affairs, October 2006 [Summary of report]  

• Women's Voices in the Farm Bill: Broadening Perspectives in Agricultural Policy, Report from 10 Farm Bill listening sessions hosted by the Women, Food, and Agriculture Network (WFAN) and supported by a competitive grant from the Leopold Center Policy Initiative, June 2006.  

• Rising Energy Prices and Iowa Farmers, April 2005. Mike Duffy and Darnell Smith look at two scenarios on the impact on variable ag production costs.  

• External Costs of Agricultural Production in the United States, January 2005. Published by the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, authored by Erin Tegtmeier and Mike Duffy.  

• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in the Midwest United States: A regional characterization, January 2005. The Leopold Center surveyed nearly 150 CSAs in nine Midwestern states.  

• Toward a Global Food and Agricultural Policy, January 2005. A Leopold Center task force examines possible directions and considerations for the next farm bill. About the task force. 

• Survey of Iowa producers regarding the National Organic Program, a project of the Leopold Center Policy Initiative, August 2004. News release about survey results [Organic Trade Association]

• Farmland ownership and tenure in Iowa 1982-2002: A 20-year perspective, July 2004. SU Extension publication
   
• Reflections on Iowa farm land in 2004, analysis for Winter 2003 Leopold Letter
  
  Study shows no economic advantage for Iowa farmers to plant GMO crops, analysis for Winter 2001 Leopold Letter
   
• Farm Ownership: The changing of the guard, October 2003 roundtable discussion on farm succession
   
• Concentration in Agriculture: How much, how serious and why worry?, February 2003 conference

Resources

• Future of the Bioeconomy in Green County, A Pilot Study for Iowa, Final report of a project funded by the BioEconomy Working Group of the Value Chain Partnerships project coordinated by the Leopold Center. Other partners were the Greene County Development Corporate and Iowa Energy Center. November 2007 [NOTE: PDF is 4.7 MB in size; report is 206 pages] 

• Conservation and Environment   Analysis of USDA conservation programs; second in a series of reports on alternatives for discussion of the Farm Bill, June 2006  

• Remaking farm policy  If we could start from scratch, what would a more farmer-oriented federal farm policy look like? Daryll Ray, the 2004 John Pesek Colloquium speaker, addresses that question and many others his presentation, "Agricultural Policy for the 21st Century and the Legacy of the Wallaces." The Leopold Center co-sponsors this annual event.  More

• Historical Land Values in Iowa [Office of Social and Economic Trend Analysis at ISU]
  

• So you have inherited a farm, [PDF], ISU Extension publication, July 2001

About the initiative

The Leopold Center's 2007 Request for Projects resulted in 60 preproposals and 20 competitive grants for 2008. List of all 2008 competitive grants [PDF]  

The Center has identified the policy arena as a major component of developing and implementing sustainable agriculture practices and systems. We are interested in research that will help policy makers formulate sound decisions. We are interested in research that will identify potential policies and/or barriers. Finally, we also are in search of basic research needed to help evaluate policy proposals and alternatives.  

The Center does not take positions on specific legislation. It is our hope that work in this area will help inform policy makers and stimulate creative thinking about potential policies and the consequences of those policies.

Areas of interest

• Diversifying the landscape -- impacts on farmer costs and returns, exports and the balance of trade, food security, rural communities or land values; also what to use for diversification and the expected results or some aspect of the bio-based economy.
• Alternative government programs Government programs at all levels have significant impact on the structure of agriculture and whether "agriculture of the middle" can survive. Alternative programs can be devised ot help in this area; an example would be the Conservation Security Program.
• Use of Conservation Reserve Program -- impacts on environmental quality and other measures and on land values and rents; also costs and benefits of this program, alternatives to the program, or using enrolled land with reduced payments.
• Alternative definition of a farm The current farm definition includes many operations that are lifestyle choices rather than a full-time occupation. For example, one-fourth of all Iowa farms have sales of less than $2,500. Including these farms masks what is really happening to the number of farms, and the structure of production agriculture. It also skews government policy impacts.
• Farmer producer groups Farmers can joint together in a variety of ways to help ensure profitability. Marketing as a group is one possibility. Other options could include joint machinery ownership or machinery sharing, coordinated produciton, and joint marketing of specialty products.
• Impact of regulations on sustainable agriculture -- economies of size, food safety or impact on marketing opportunities
• Potential programs to aid small, beginning and/or retiring farmers -- tax alterative, special programs, credit availability, and matching or mentoring programs.
• Impact and implementation of watershed level management -- research about riparian buffer strips: vegetation, width or access to water; also use of physical versus political boundaries; valuing water quality, impacts and costs; and the optimal timing of benefits -- immediate, short-term or long-run; impact of different implementation methods -- taxation, regulation or voluntary -- and the political consequences

Initiative leader: Jerry DeWitt, jdewitt@iastate.edu, (515) 294-7836.