Program

FREDERICK L. KIRSCHENMANN

Frederick L. Kirschenmann, a longtime leader in national and international sustainable agriculture, has been director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University since July 2000. Only the Center's second director since it was created in 1987, Kirschenmann came to the Center from south central North Dakota where he operated his family's 3,500-acre certified organic farm. He continues to oversee management of the farm and has an appointment in the ISU Department of Religion and Philosophy.

He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago, and has written extensively about ethics and agriculture. He has held national and international appointments, including the USDA's National Organic Standards Board. He is a board member for the Food Alliance, Silos and Smokestacks, and the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

Kirschenmann's academic credits include several years teaching and as administrator, culminating in a position as academic dean at Curry College in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1976 he returned to the family farm when his father became ill. By 1980, the farm was certified organic, one of the early operations to make the transition. The farm is a natural prairie livestock grazing system that combines a nine-crop rotation of cereal grains, forages, and green manure.

Kirschenmann Family Farms has been part of a number of research studies. It also has been featured in national publications including National Geographic , the Smithsonian , Audubon, Business Week , the LA Times and Gourmet magazine. In 1995, Kirschenmann was profiled in an award-winning video, “My Father's Garden,” by Miranda Productions, Inc.

In 1978, Kirschenmann helped organize North Dakota Natural Farmers that later became the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society. He helped found and for 10 years was president of Farm Verified Organic, Inc., an international private certification agency.

In 2001, Kirschenmann received the Seventh Generation Research Award from the Center for Rural Affairs for his work in sustainable food and farming systems. He also was named a 2002 Leader of the Year in Agriculture by Progressive Farmer publications. His essay, “Ecological Morality: A New Ethic for Agriculture,” appears in Agroecosystems Analysis , a monograph published by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and the Soil Science Society of America.

The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture was created by the Iowa Legislature to develop sustainable agricultural practices that are both profitable and conserve natural resources. Since his appointment to the Center, Kirschenmann has been s a frequent speaker, engaging audiences to help shape a new vision for agriculture. New Center directions include research initiatives in marketing and food systems, ecology and policy.