Fred Kirschenmann, a longtime national and international leader in sustainable agriculture, is Distinguished Fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and the President of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York.

He continues to manage his family’s 1,800-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota, where he developed a diverse crop rotation that has enabled him to farm productively without synthetic inputs (fertilizers or pesticides) while simultaneously improving the health of the soil.

Kirschenmann, who holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago, is a professor in the Iowa State University Department of Religion and Philosophy.

In April 2010, the University Press of Kentucky published a book of his essays, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher, that trace the evolution of his ecological and farming philosophy over the past 30 years.

Rural America
Maximum Production for Short-term Economic Gain: Our ‘Collision Course’
Fred Kirschenmann
Rural America
How Can We Achieve Sustainability?: First We Have to Anticipate the Future
Fred Kirschenmann
Rural America
Too Many Farmers? The Debate Continues
Fred Kirschenmann
Rural America
Why “Optimization” Is Not a Successful Agricultural Strategy
Fred Kirschenmann