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Stewards of the Farming Future	Practical Farmers of Iowa 2035 190th St. Boone, IA 50036-7423
Farms · Families · Communities

Membership Dues: $25/year; $75 /3 years. Includes newsletter, annual field day guide and optional listing in membership directory

Newsletter: The Practical Farmer (quarterly).

"Farmers helping farmers make decisions" is the self-description formulated by the PFI board of directors, 10 producers elected by the membership from 5 membership districts in Iowa. The membership of 500 also includes, as associate (nonvoting) members, many non-farmers and people from outside Iowa.

PFI has carried out an on-farm research program since 1987 and has developed procedures that farmers can use to conduct and analyze their own research. PFI members have accomplished more than 400 of these experiments. PFI works intensively with a group of two to three dozen farmer-researchers, "cooperators," who demonstrate their practices at farm field days. A second network of community-based groups pursues a variety of projects, from beginning farmer efforts, to agroforestry, to holistic management, to community-supported agriculture ("CSA"), to a county-wide manure brokerage.

PFI partners with a number of organizations and agencies. One of the organization's oldest collaborations is with Iowa State University. PFI funds two ISU Extension staff to coordinate on-farm research and community-based groups. Through these staff, many collaborative projects have been developed that involve ISU scientists in cooperative research on farms and group-building efforts.

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