10/24/01

Contacts:
Kim Leval, Center for Rural Affairs, (541) 579-5324 (cell); (541) 687-1490 (office)
Laura Miller, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, (515) 294-5272

LEOPOLD CENTER DIRECTOR TO RECEIVE SUSTAINABLE AG AWARD

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and president of Kirschenmann Family Farms, will receive the second annual Seventh Generation Award at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the Tri-Societies: American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America and Crop Science Society of America. The award is cosponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs and the Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.

The award highlights innovators in agriculture research whose work furthers sustainable food and farming systems that are practical, productive and environmentally sound. It is named after the philosophy and tradition of the Iroquois people and other North American tribes to plan current activities (agriculture, hunting, fishing) with seven generations (150 years) of beneficiaries in mind.

Upon hearing of the award Kirschenmann said, "I am deeply honored and hope that I can live up to all that the award symbolizes and will commit myself to that in the future."

The award ceremony will be held Oct. 24 from 6 to 7 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C.

Kirschenmann is a practicing farmer-scientist with a proven track record shown by his ability to bring together practical needs for a more ecologically friendly agriculture, academic needs for interdisciplinary research strategies and national needs for sustainable economic policies that strengthen the entire food and agriculture system.

In 1976, Kirschenmann left an academic career to operate to his family's 3,500-acre grain and livestock farm near Windsor, N.D. The farm has been certified organic since 1980 and is a natural prairie livestock grazing system that combines a nine-crop rotation of cereal grains, forages, and green manure. The Kirschenmann farm has participated in a number of research studies and has been headquarters for Farm Verified Organic, an internationally recognized organic certification agency that Kirschenmann helped found and was president of for 10 years.

In July 2000, Kirschenmann was appointed director of the 12-year-old Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. As director, he has drawn on a "listening process" to shape a new vision for Iowa agriculture. New Center directions advocate interdisciplinary research on policies that reward farmers for providing a public good to protect natural resources and to help maintain vibrant communities; policies and practices that take advantage of ecosystem services; and strategies that "market the farm instead of farming the market."

Established in 1973, the Center for Rural Affairs is a private, non-profit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches, and rural communities through action oriented programs addressing social, economic, and environmental issues. For more information about the 2002 Seventh Generation Research Award, contact Casey Corbett or Kim Leval at (541) 687-1490, or on the Web at: centerwest@qwest.net.

The Leopold Center was created by the 1987 Iowa Groundwater Protect Act. Through its research and education programs, the Leopold Center supports the development of profitable farming systems that conserve natural resources.

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