science

Practical Farmers of Iowa

Practical Farmers of Iowa is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Practical Farmers of Iowa rather than just read about it. In short: Practical Farmers of Iowa (also known as PFI or Practical Farmers) is a non-profit farmer-led organization with over 9,000 members from Iowa and beyond. Farmers in their network raise corn, soybeans, hay, livestock large and small, horticultural crops from fruits and vegetables to cut flowers and herbs, and more.

Key takeaways

Practical Farmers of Iowa belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Practical Farmers of Iowa to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Practical Farmers of Iowa from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Practical Farmers of Iowa (also known as PFI or Practical Farmers) is a non-profit farmer-led organization with over 9,000 members from Iowa and beyond. Farmers in their network raise corn, soybeans, hay, livestock large and small, horticultural crops from fruits and vegetables to cut flowers and herbs, and more. Members have conventional and organic systems; employ diverse management practices; run operations of all sizes; and come from a range of backgrounds. The organization coordinates farmer-led training, connects researchers and farmers, provides farmers a peer support network, advocates for agriculture policy and enables famers to adopt new conservation practices.

History Practical Farmers of Iowa was founded in 1985, a time when farmers were under great economic pressure. During that time, Iowa agriculture was in a threefold crisis: Evidence of the negative ecological consequences of current farming practices was mounting; the collapse of commodity prices called into question the economic sustainability of agriculture; and the demise of thousands of farms was draining the vitality of rural communities. Amid the turmoil of that time period, farmers sought ways to bring greater diversity to their farms as a means of reducing the need for costly inputs. A group of like-minded farmers came together looking for answers to how to make crop and livestock diversity work for them. It was during this time that Larry Kallem, a staff member with the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives in Ames, attended a field day at the Boone-area farm of Dick and Sharon Thompson. Impressed by the scientific methods the Thompson used to conduct research trials on their farm – and their sustainable, low-input, practical approach to farming – Larry invited Dick, Sharon and two other speakers to present at an Iowa Institute workshop on low-input farming in the autumn of 1984.

Board of Directors Practical Farmers of Iowa is governed by a 12-person board of directors. To ensure a focus on members’ priorities, 10 of the 12 board members must be farmers. One farmer director is elected from each of five Iowa districts. Additionally, five farmers and two non-farmers are elected from the membership at-large. Board members serve in many capacities, from ensuring fiscal soundness and effective programs to providing leadership, advice and direction to staff and volunteers.

Projects Practical Farmers of Iowa works to encourage the adoption of cover crops and other conservation practices, through work with farmers and organizations. In 2018, Practical Farmers of Iowa partnered with Unilever and PepsiCo on a cover crops effort. In 2024, more than 2,300 farmers planted over 800,000 acres of cover crops as part of PFI's cover crop cost-share program. In 2025, PepsiCo and Cargill announced plans to partner with PFI to give technical and financial support to farmers for adopting practices including cover crops, reduced tillage, and reduced nitrogen application. The organization facilitated 59 field days across Iowa and other states in 2024 where farmers visited other farms and shared best practices.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Practical Farmers of Iowa

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Practical Farmers of Iowa claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Practical Farmers of Iowa before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Practical Farmers of Iowa ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Practical Farmers of Iowa

In research: Practical Farmers of Iowa appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Practical Farmers of Iowa in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Practical Farmers of Iowa is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1985 establishments in Iowa, Agricultural education, Agricultural organizations based in the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Practical Farmers of Iowa outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Practical Farmers of Iowa in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Practical Farmers of Iowa means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Practical Farmers of Iowa out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Practical Farmers of Iowa in simple terms?

Why does Practical Farmers of Iowa matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Practical Farmers of Iowa?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Practical Farmers of Iowa.