Ron Rosmann
For State House
Who I Am
Ron Rosmann of Shelby County is considered a state and national leader in sustainable and organic agriculture issues. Rosmann is a founding board member and past president of Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI). He has been an on-farm research cooperator with PFI, Iowa State University, and the USDA since 1987. Ron served on the national board of directors and was board president of the Organic Farming Research Foundation. He helped create the Iowa Organic Association. Rosmann has been invited to testify before the U.S. House and Senate Agricultural Committees on several occasions.
Ron is very active in his local community. He is the vice-chair of the Shelby County Extension Council. He is a past Shelby County Farm Bureau Director. He was a 4-H leader for over ten years. Ron, a lifelong member of St. Boniface Church, Westphalia, served as project co-chair for their recently completed parish and community center. He has been a church musician for 40 years.
A graduate of Harlan High School, Ron Rosmann is a 1973 graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in Biology. Ron and Maria Vakulskas Rosmann have been married 30 years. They have three grown sons, David, Daniel, and Mark. David is an ISU graduate in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture. Daniel, an ISU graduate in Agronomy, is farming with his parents. Mark will graduate from ISU in 2008 with degrees in Agronomy and History.
The Rosmanns operate Rosmann Family Farms; a 600 acre certified organic grain and livestock farm west of Harlan. It is the farm where Ron was raised and where he learned invaluable lessons from his late father about care and respect for the land. They raise corn, soybeans, oats, barley, hay, pasture, and popcorn. Their livestock includes 90 beef cows utilizing intensive grazing management practices and a 50 sow farrow-to-finish hog operation. They operate their own private label organic meat business selling under the name of “Rosmann Family Farms.” Their meats are featured in stores in Ames and Des Moines.
Because of their unique farming operation, Ron has been asked to host many farm tours with over 1500 in attendance from all over the world. This includes representatives of the business and financial industry, government officials, educators, researchers and farmers. The Rosmann family was the 2007 recipient of the Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture given by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University.
