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Iowa Farmers Share Innovative Farming Practices with Researchers
Seven innovative farmers in Iowa share how they began farming and how their farming practices have changed over time in a series of stories recently published by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. These stories are part of a research project to learn about the impact of small crop and livestock enterprises on communities. The idea is to identify, promote and assist in the adoption of integrated crop and livestock farming systems that decrease nutrient run-off, reduce costs, increase market opportunities and increase profits for small and mid-sized family farms.
During the course of the project, the research team was able to interview several innovative farmers in the region, meet their families, and learn their farming story. In the summer of 2004, the NCRCRD, who has been coordinating and analyzing the community impacts of the studied farming practices, contacted the farmers for more information and asked if they would share their “farm story.” These stories show a personal side of farming, bringing to light that this research involves real people who have great stories to share.
A Way of Life: Stories from Regional Farmers and additional information on the research study are posted on the Center’s Web site at http://www.ncrcrd.iastate.edu/farmstories/index.htm.
The research study, titled Re-Integrating Crop and Livestock Enterprises in Three Northern States, is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems Program. The four-year project involves the collaboration of 10 institutions across three states in the northern United States—Maine, Iowa and Michigan.
For more information on the farm stories contact Susan Fey at (515) 294-6250 or susanfey@iastate.edu.
Return to Inside this Issue (Vol. 28, No. 1, 2005)
Return to Rural Development News Index
North
Central Regional Center for Rural Development
Iowa State University
107 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1050
(515) 294-8321, (515) 294-3180 fax
For questions, comments or concerns about the NCRCRD website, contact
.
Last updated May 12, 2006 .