Farmer-Led Research

Abstract Six cooperators documented their local and distance food purchases between May 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011. For this study, local food was defined as food produced within Iowa. After 15 months of data collection, the data …

Abstract During Iowa’s spring 2008 floods, PFI members who had grass-based livestock systems and long crop rotations reported that their soils held the rainwater. This experiment tested those claims. The main objective of the study was to quantify …

Tips for Increasing Local Food Purchases From what the participants learned through this project, here are some tips for increasing your local food purchases: Start by reading labels and learning how far the food travels at the grocery …

Abstract Scattergood Farm measured the effects of two cover crops or no cover crop on numbers of weeds and compaction measured by soil density in a vegetable crop following a transition from a pasture. The treatments tested were …

Abstract Organic production typically delays planting of soybean (Glycine max) until late May. However, a longer season provides time needed to reach maximum yield potential. In 2011, planting dates in mid-May resulted in yields five bushels per acre …

Abstract Flea beetles can cause significant damage to eggplants and reduce harvest yields. In 2010, Ben Saunders compared kaolin clay and row covers as physical barriers to reduce flea beetle damage on eggplants. Yields were higher in both …

Abstract Soybeans (Glycine max) are an important source of protein in animal diets, fed as soybean meal. Raw soybeans contain trypsin inhibitor (TI), which reduces protein digestion, feed efficiency and limits on-farm feeding of raw, unroasted soybeans to …

Abstract Three winter feeding strategies for growing calves—low-input, medium-input, and high-input—were tested by weighing the animals periodically to determine rates of weight gain for each strategy. Calves fed distiller’s syrup on stockpiled pasture and then as a supplement …

In the fall of 2009, a trial to observe the effects of a cover crop planting of tillage radish was conducted at One Step at a Time Gardens (OSTG), near Kanawha, Iowa. The observation was conducted to examine …

Abstract Jill Beebout and Sean Skeehan of Blue Gate Farm produce crops in the field as well as in two high tunnels. This report summarizes their production and sales data from their two high tunnels in spring and …

Abstract During Iowa’s spring 2008 floods, PFI members who had grass-based livestock systems and long crop rotations reported that their soils held the rainwater. This experiment tested those claims. The main objective of the study was to quantify …

Abstract Jason Jones of The Homestead near Pleasant Hill planted white mustard (Sinapis alba) fall 2009 to test its impact on weed germination in spring 2010. White mustard germinated uniformly and winter killed in late November 2009. Weed …