IOA Board Members

Kent Boyum, Ph. D. (Educator)
Director of Economic Development for Maharishi Vedic City
Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa

Kent Boyum, Ph.D. is an ecologist, businessperson, ad educator who currently holds the position of director of Government Relations with Maharishi Vedic City, the newest city in Iowa. He is on the management team of the Maharishi Vedic City Organic Farms, where he manages the process of organic certification and compliance for about 1,800 acres of organic row crop operation along with a 1.8 acre greenhouse operation. He is responsible for grant writing and administration for the city and farm. He also has a great interest in renewable energy and energy efficiency and serves on the board of the Iowa Association for Energy Efficiency (IAEE).

Tim Dailey (Handler)
Stonebridge Limited
Cedar Falls, Iowa

Diane Gibb-Lahodny (Retailer)
Campbell's Nutrition
Des Moines, Iowa

Earl Hafner, Secretary (Farmer)
Panora, Iowa

Earl Hafner grew up on the family dairy farm close to Panora, Iowa. It was here that his love for animals and nature was born and his dedication to hard work and farming was forged.

Earl graduated from Panora-Linden High School and then attended Iowa State University, graduating with a Bachelors of Science degree in Agricultural Education. While at Iowa State he worked in the Agronomy Plant Breeding department and gained valuable experience in the basic health of farm crops.

Also, while at Iowa State University, he married his high school sweetheart, Rhonda.

After college Earl worked at Stine Seeds as a plant breeder, but eventually worked back to his first passion which was animals. He sold feed for Moorman Manufacturing for a while and gained extensive experience in animal nutrition and the effects of nutrients and micronutrients on the health of animals and their development. He moved on and worked for Veterinarian, Dr. Alman as a management consultant for farmers and confinement operations. Here Earl could see first hand the results of poor management, bad facilities, and the effects of poor nutrition, as he helped pinpoint and solve problems.

In 1980, Earl had an opportunity to start farming. After several years, his only son Jeff came back to join the operation. The operation continues to grow as Jeff and Earl researched ways to add profitability to the operation and preserve the health of the soil and land for the future. They started converting to organic agriculture in 2000. First, it was the row crop and the learning curve was tough. However, Earl saw the benefits and continued to research and learn. In 2004, Jeff and Earl started converting the cow herd and in 2005, sold their first organic calves. Earl’s concerns, converting to organic cattle, were disease control in the herd and weed control in the pastures. What he discovered was he had fewer weeds, including thistles, more clover, and beneficial plants in the pastures, along with improved herd health. Also, the pastures improved (clovers, etc) and production costs decreased (fewer chemicals).

Currently, Earl is still farming with his son Jeff and they continue to look for ways to improve their operation and the soil.

Roger Lansink, Vice President (Farmer)
Lansink Organic Farms
Odebolt, Iowa

Roger and his wife Amy started farming in 1989 on 320 acres which had previously been Amy's grandparents' farm. They started transitioning to organic status in 1995. Roger immediately got involved with OCIA Chapter 1 of Iowa, serving on the Review Committee, and later, as the Review Chairman for two years. In 1998, Roger was appointed to the Iowa Organic Standards Board by Secretary Dale Cochran (which was later changed to the Organic Advisory Committee), and then re-appointed by Secretary Patty Judge. He still serves on this board to date.

The farm has since grown to 850 acres, all certified organic. It also includes a small cow calf herd, a small flock of sheep and a few laying hens. They also direct market about 700 head of broilers annually.

Roger and Amy have four children: Derek, Leighton, Ryan and Janee who all help out with the farm work and chores. They are also homeschooled to make it easier for them to help out in the busy seasons. Derek, there oldest son, has decided to stay home and join in the family operation and be the next generation organic farmer.

Virginia Moser (Farmer)
Moser's Garden
Garrison, Iowa

Virginia Moser lives on a century farm in a Sears & Roebuck house that was built by a great uncle in 1910. She grows and organic garden that has been continually organic since its inception, even though the farm was using conventional farming techniques for much of its history.

Virgia has served on several boards including INCA (first president) and IDALs organic standards board.

Donna Prizgintas (Consumer Advocate)
Culinary Director, Someone's in the Kitchen with Donna
Ames, Iowa

Donna Prizgintas is the American Chef most celebrating healthy home cooking. Rather like an Organic Betty Crocker, she is a passionate and respected advocate for organic foods and agriculture.

As a private chef for celebrities such as Michelle Pfeiffer and David E. Kelley, Donna creates delicious, nurturing and time-sensitive meals that support family schedules and meet the highest standards of quality. An outspoken champion of organic foods, Donna also acts as culinary director for events benefitting cutting-edge environmental organizations including the Organic Farming Research Foundation, The Land Institute, the Environmental Media Association, and Esalen Institute. She was founding Executive Chef for Paul Newman’s California Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, The Painted Turtle, were she created the Organic camp menu for the children.

Self-taught with more than25 years of culinary experience, Donna combines a number of influences to create a uniquely modern approach to food, encompassing pleasure, flavor, freshness, seasonality, ease of execution and environmental awareness. Born in a small town in the Midwest, with a father in the dairy business and a heritage of family farming, she was raised with” a good dairy palate” and a deep appreciation for meals as the heart of family life.

Later, Donna traveled extensively and gravitated to cooking as a consistently creative path. Embracing the progressive values of the 1960’s, she began to study natural and organic foods and alternative agriculture. Frequent visits to France and immersion in the Los Angles restaurant world added culinary polish and technique, taking the “country girl with farm roots” to new levels of creativity and skill.

Searching for a way to combine her talent with the demands of being a single mother, Donna became a private chef in the home of Sally Field. Since then, through her company someone’s in the Kitchen with Donna, she has cooked for the families of Norman Lear, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, George Harrison, clients Pfeiffer and Kelley, and more.

Dedicated to preserving the family meal tradition and celebrating the most sensual, pleasurable and nurturing aspects of food and cooking, Donna lives and cooks by the principal that “eating is an environmental activity”.

Currently she is the chef spokesperson for Horizon Dairy and Back to Nature brands, and consults in the natural products industry. This coming March Donna will cook her 10th annual luncheon for Organic Farming Research Foundation at the Natural Products Expo West.

Ken Roseboro (Consumer Advocate)
Editor, The Non-GMO Report
Fairfield, Iowa

Ken Roseboro is editor and publisher of The Non-GMO Report, a monthly newsletter focusing on the risks of genetically engineered foods, and The Non-GMO Sourcebook, an annual directory of suppliers of non-genetically engineered grains, ingredients and foods. He is also author of Genetically Altered Foods and Your Health (Basic Health Publications, 2004) and The Organic Food Handbook (Basic Health Publications, 2007). Roseboro has written extensively about GE and organic foods for natural and organic food industry publications, including Natural Foods Merchandiser, Organic Processing, The Organic Report, Natural Products Industry Insider, Cooperative Grocer and others. He has also given presentations and GE foods and their impact on organic at tradeshows and conferences.

Jerry Rosman (Interim Executive Director)
Iowa Organic Association
Harlan, Iowa

Jerry Rosmann is a lifelong resident of Harlan, Iowa. Along with his wife Janice, they have four daughters and have been involved in a diversified family farm operation since 1974 using conventional farming practices. In addition to his farming operation, Jerry established a feed and seed supply business in 1988 (Animal Nutrition Consulting).

Due to life changing experiences in the years 2001 and 2002 with conventional agricultural production practices on the Rosman farm, Jerry is now devoting his energies to promoting safer food production systems for consumers and producers. He has done consultation work for independent testing companies and numerous advocacy groups which have included The Friends of the Earth, Center for Food Safety, The Humane Society of the United States and Sustainable Foods for Siouxland. He recently finished a two year project coordinating the formation of the Floyd Blvd. Local Foods Market in Sioux City, Iowa where he held the position of market manager during that time.

Jerry is also doing independent testing designs on the problems of Genetic Engineering of plants related to animal reproduction with its implications to human reproduction.

Ron Rosmann (Farmer)
Rosmann Family Farms
Harlan, Iowa

Ron Rosmann holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Iowa State University. Ron, along with his wife Maria Valkulskas Rosmann and there sons David, Daniel and Mark, operate a 600-acre diversified certified organic grain and livestock farm west of Harlan, Iowa. Crops include corn, soybeans, flax, oats, barley, hay and pasture. Livestock includes 90 certified organic stock cows utilizing intensive grazing management practices and a 50 sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. The grain farm has been certified organic since 1994, the beef has been certified since 1998 and the hogs have been certified since 2004.

Rosmann is past president of the Organic Farming Research Foundation and the Practical Farmers of Iowa organization.

Joe Ward, Ph. D., President (Educator)
Wholesale Feeds, Inc.
Marion, Iowa

Joseph W. Ward was born in La Porte, Indiana and raised on a livestock farm. Active in 4-H and FFA, he attended Purdue University earning a BS in Animal Science and MS in Ruminant Nutrition. He also earned a Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in Ruminant Nutrition. As an animal nutritionist, he has consulted in Europe, the Far East and South Africa.   Presently, he is President of Wholesale Feeds, Inc in Marion, Iowa. He also manages a certified organic soy processing and animal feed manufacturing facility in Washington, Iowa. He has been active in organic animal production since the early 90's. He currently serves on the Advisory Council for the State of Iowa's Organic Program.

Steve Williams (Processor)
Naturally Iowa; Valley View Farm
Villisca, Iowa

Steve Williams is a fifth generation farmer from Page County in Southwest Iowa. His family has a rich tradition in innovative agricultural practices, including a strong emphasis on diversification and soil stewardship. In 1996, Steve and his wife Wendi started their own hog operation and then added a farm that has been exclusively in organic production since 1998.

Steve has had a special interest in dairy production and processing for several years and has been pursuing an organic dairy on his farm. His involvement in Organic Dairy Alliance has given him many opportunities to further study the intricacies of organic dairy production as well as organizing producers and marketing product.

Advisory Board Members

Kathleen Delate, Ph. D. (Advisor)
Associate Professor
Departments of Agronomy/Horticulture
Organic Agriculture Program
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa

Kathleen Delate holds the first faculty position in organic agriculture in the United States, associate professor in Horticulture and Agronomy at Iowa State University. She is responsible for research, extension and teaching in organic agriculture and has farmed organically in Florida, Hawaii, California and Iowa.

Susan Futrell (Advisor)
One Backyard
Iowa City, Iowa

Margaret Smith (Advisor)
Value-added Agriculture Program
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa