A non-profit dedicated to developing new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources asks for the public?s help in providing input on the non-profits future.
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture asks the public to take part in its listening session series. The first session will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Jeff and Deb Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center in Ames. Leopold Center Director Mark Rasmussen said the listening sessions would provide the Center guidance, as it moves forward with minimal funding.
?The old Leopold Center, as we have known it for 30 years, has gone away with the defunding and the decisions by the Iowa Legislature,? Rasmussen said. ?We are hoping to hear from the public and stakeholders of the Leopold Center (as to) where do we go in the future and where the Leopold Center goes in this new world that it?s facing up too.?
The Iowa Legislature passed legislation this spring, defunding the Leopold Center. Rasmussen said many of the Center?s constituents are worried as to what will happen to the Center without appropriate funding.
?Right now, we?re kind of at low-ebb with minimal funds left,? Rasmussen said. ?There?s also concern over where do we go. In the past, the mission of the Center was very broad. I like to state that the Center had to do with anything related to Ag, food and farming. We?re going to have scale down and prioritize. So the issue is where do we prioritize and what do we work on??
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture will hold a total of five listening sessions. The second listening session will be held August 16, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Iowa State University?s Armstrong Research Farm in Lewis, Iowa. Leopold Center staff will release further information regarding other listening sessions in the future.
