Quoted: “I think we all probably expected to be out playing outside this weekend,” said Joe Muellenberg, horticulture program coordinator at Dane County’s University of Wisconsin Extension. “Instead, we’re going to be rushing to protect our plants and worrying about them.”
UW-Madison Collegiate Farm Bureau hosted its annual Ag Day on Campus April 19 on Library Mall on the UW-Madison campus. The event, with a theme of “One percent feeding 100 percent,” was designed to educate others and promote Wisconsin agriculture.
Insects provide an affordable and bountiful source of protein, and according to our guest, they can be delicious, too! We’ll hear from a self-described “edible insect ambassador” who is bringing his message of eating bugs to Wisconsin.
Yoon, who is also executive director of Brooklyn Bugs, is taking his message to the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Thursday, April 25 with a three-day event, “Swarm to Table,” that promotes insects as a responsible food source for humans.
The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems helped Madison Magazine put together a seasonal shopping guide to help navigate local farmers’ markets.
Julie Dawson is a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she does tomato variety trials including varieties from a number of different public and private sector breeders.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. recently announced a $750,000 grant for the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The grant will establish a Beverage Innovation Center for small businesses to test and develop new beverage products.
Quoted: It’s worthwhile to take a moment to understand the difference between nitrate and nitrite. (Besides, without at least some eye-glazing detail, how would you know it was me?) I asked Jeff Sindelar, professor of meat science at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, to explain the process. Nitrate is a molecule consisting of one nitrogen atom with three oxygens.
Noted: Joe Lauer is a corn agronomist for University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The plastic milk jug is familiar to most consumers but its days may be numbered as a newly announced grant will allow experts at UW-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research to begin working on producing dairy beverages that won’t need refrigeration.
Quoted: “Most people don’t realize that the food system is one of the primary ways that humans are affecting the environment,” explained Valerie Stull, an interdisciplinary environmental health scientist and a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Global Health Institute.
Quoted: “We make a great team,” added Karen Nielsen, who heads up Global Dairy Outreach in Madison. “Even though she’s in Vermont and I’m in Wisconsin, we’ve worked a lot to help those in the dairy industry.”
Since 2014, Wisconsin universities have received 74 AFRI grants totaling $38 million. These grants have gone to projects such as studying the impact of climate change on dairy production at UW-Madison and research on improved food access for rural, low-income communities at Northland College in Ashland. Locally, this means we are improving an industry that is a cornerstone to our economy. Globally, this allows us to maintain food-supply chains and remain a world leader in agriculture.
The Badger Invitational Sale dates to 1983 when it began as “a means to apply in actual practice what was being taught in the UW-Madison Dairy Science Department classroom, such as dairy pedigrees, sire evaluation, performance indexes and business principles.”
The U.S. dairy industry has set a goal of reducing its greenhouse-gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020. UW–Madison researchers are helping identify strategies to accomplish that.
The station continues to partner with the USDA for the NRSP-6 Potato Genebank, which is located at the station. Peters says the work by UW and USDA staffers at that facility is one of national importance.
The annual meeting also included the announcement of the recipient of the Donald R. Peterson Technology Transfer Award. Dr. Brian Luck, assistant professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at UW-Madison received this year’s award, although he was unable to attend the annual meeting.
In their March “Dairy Situation and Outlook” podcast, UW-Madison’s Bob Cropp and Mark Stephenson said milk prices are on a trajectory to be quite a bit better by this fall.
Collegiate Farm Bureau at UW-Madison will celebrate its annual Ag Day on Campus with the theme “The One Percent Who Feed the 100 Percent,” 9 a.m. to noon on April 17 on Library Mall in downtown Madison to educate students on the importance of agriculture.
UW System agricultural research, which Wisconsin farmers of the past relied on to help build America’s Dairyland, still focuses on nutrition, production efficiency, welfare and disease prevention in dairy cows. In addition, UW researchers are also developing new stress-reduction programs for farmers, formulating new dairy-based food products, and creating sustainable practices that benefit water, land, rural communities and farm workers.
Quoted: There are two main schools of thought about choosing a “healthy” ice cream, according to Scott Rankin, Ph.D., a professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “On the one hand, you have consumers who want the fewest ingredients possible,” he says. “On the other, you have customers who want their ice cream to have specific ‘attributes,’ such as no sugar added or nonfat.”
Quoted: In its simplest form, ice cream has just four ingredients: milk, cream, sugar, and flavoring, such as vanilla. For many years, there were limited options in overall ingredients, composition, and flavor, says Scott Rankin, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the department of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
UW-Discovery Farms is a research and outreach program focused on the relationship between agriculture and water quality. It’s a unique program that conducts research on privately owned farms in Wisconsin.
Heart of the Farm-Women in Agriculture workshop is a University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension program committed to addressing the needs of farm women by providing education on farm business topics, connecting them with agricultural resources and creating support networks.
Sandy Stuttgen has spent a lot of time around cows. She grew up a dairy farmer’s daughter in Marathon County, leaving the farm to become a large animal, predominately dairy, veterinarian before joining the staff at UW-Madison Division of Extension as an associate professor.
As the agronomist at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station, Cavadini has been integrating no-till and cover crops practices to support the station’s dairy herd. He also grazes a small herd of about 40 Black and Red Angus beef on his family’s 80-acre Cavern Point Farm near Stratford.
Jennifer Van Os, an assistant professor and Extension specialist at UW-Madison’s Department of Dairy Science, also wouldn’t be surprised if the age of group housing was on the horizon.
Cropp, emeritus professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, said a slowdown in milk production, reduced cow numbers and a falloff in heifer numbers could mean good news.
Noted: John Holovoet of the Wisconsin Dairy Business Association told of the proposed UW Dairy Innovation Hub $7.6 million funding request. The proposal focuses on four areas: land and water resource stewardship; enrichment of human health; growth of farm businesses and communities and animal health.
The governor included a request of $88 million of state funding for the expansion of the UW School of Veterinary Medicine that was built in 1983 to see 12,000 patients a year, a figure that has since risen to 27,000. The always top five rated school of Veterinary School in the nation has trained over 50 percent of the veterinarians practicing in the state. The $128 million project includes some $38 million from private donations in addition to the state funds.
“It’s very much a matter of your perspective,” said Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at University of Wisconsin-Madison and chairman of Dairy Task Force 2.0, a committee of Wisconsin dairy farmers and others that aims to chart a course for the dairy industry’s future.
Quoted: “It’s very much a matter of your perspective,” said Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at University of Wisconsin-Madison and chairman of Dairy Task Force 2.0, a committee of Wisconsin dairy farmers and others that aims to chart a course for the dairy industry’s future.
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Victor Cabrera wants to help farmers make better decisions through his project called Dairy Brain , which would collect and integrate data from all parts of the farm operation, then use artificial intelligence to analyze the findings and help farmers make smarter management decisions.
“Farmers are structured to ride these waves out, but when the waves are this long they can’t ride that out,” says Steven Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“Many ag consultants are on the farm and see the challenges farmers face with employees every day,” said Simon Jette-Nantel, Professor and UW-Extension Farm Management Specialist. “These are often the people farmers ask for advice regarding employees. This program provides information and resources to help Wisconsin farmers address these questions.”
Mark Stephenson, chairman of the task force and director of dairy-policy analysis for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said at the end of the meeting, “We’re kind of stuck in the red zone and have a little bit of clean-up work yet to do.”
The University of Wisconsin—Madison opened the nation’s first dairy school in 1890.
But the Wisconsin Farm Bureau would like to prioritize the positions of integrated specialist roles that would hold a joint appointment between UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and UW-Extension. Those specialists perform and teach the specialized research that is essential to Wisconsin farmers.
Buffalo County officials are estimating that 235 cattle, 4,800 hogs and 2,000 turkeys have been killed there by collapsed roofs since the winter storm, according to Carl Duley, the ag agent for UW-Extension’s Buffalo County office.
Randy Shaver, a UW-Madison professor in the Department of Dairy Science and Extension dairy nutritionist, will be honored as the Industry Person of the Year.
He is among hundreds of farmers who were in Madison this week for the annual business conference of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin.
Administered by the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the program consists of a full-time staff of experienced professionals dedicated to ensuring thoroughness and impartiality in inspection and certification procedures.
But little by little, supply management is rising to the surface of the national conversation. University of Wisconsin-Madison director of dairy policy analysis Mark Stephenson told radio station WPR in January that he believed it could be an effective way to increase the price of milk paid to farmers — despite governmental hurdles. “Some version of that program… [could] be a little softer than a Canadian system and certainly might help moderate these prices when we get into these deep downturns,” he said.
Right now, Goldman is the nation’s only plant breeder at a public institution who works on table beets, making UW–Madison a key resource for all things beet research and breeding. This includes the development of new and improved varieties and serving as a repository for one of the world’s best collections of beet seeds.
If you are concerned about tar spot this year but haven’t been able to get to a winter meeting to learn more on how to control it, the University of Wisconsin has a solution.
Larson is an assistant professor in the Biological Systems Engineering Department at UW-Madison and a biowaste specialist with UW-Extension. She performs research and extension/outreach applications of biowaste management including handling, treatment and processing of biological waste streams, including manure.
But Steven Deller, agricultural and applied economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said it won’t offset the 17.8 percent decline in farm income last year.
Carl Duley, a former farmer, and now a University of Wisconsin-Extension agent with Buffalo County, helps farmers like Weisenbeck. Duley said he’s working with the state government to try to get local farmers some low-interest loans to help pay for their losses.
Futures prices are relatively flat and may be too pessimistic toward the end of this year, UW-Madison dairy market experts Bob Cropp and Mark Stephenson said in their February dairy outlook podcast. Price improvement is coming, and Cropp looks for Class III to reach the $16s by the fourth quarter.
Noted: University of Wisconsin-Madison agriculture and applied economics Professor Paul Mitchell said the university has a lot of research to do before they fully understand the crop, and his department is considering hiring someone to study it.
When is a farm not just a farm?
Monica M. White’s new, impressively researched book Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement (University of North Carolina Press, $28) highlights historical examples of black farmers using agricultural cooperatives “as a space and place to practice freedom.” And White explains how similar strategies are helping today’s underserved communities pool resources and alleviate poverty.
That will take some of the pressure off the UW Extension, which has struggled to staff ag agents at many of their county offices after deep cuts in recent years to the UW System budget.
The UW-Extension Program, “Your Farm Future: A blueprint to move your farm forward,” is intended for farmers interested in planning and preparing for the future of their farm business in the context of current challenging economic conditions. It offers an opportunity for farmers interested to further develop and/or re-evaluate their plans and goals for their farm with consideration for family business dynamics and current economic conditions.
The Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program started a farmer suicide-prevention project this past month. The effort, funded by a $50,000 grant from the University of Wisconsin-School of Medicine and Public Health’s Wisconsin Partnership Program, was prompted by an increase in stories about suicides or suicidal thoughts among farmers, said Wally Orzechowski, executive director.
The food-science department has been a part of the UW–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences for more than 100 years. Originally housed in Hiram Smith Hall at its founding, the food-science department moved into Babcock Hall when the building opened in 1951.
Quoted: Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska, a family doctor who practices and researches addiction medicine at UW Health, remains skeptical of CBD. “The research on CBD oil has not been sufficient to say that this is evidence-based treatment for x, y or z,” she says.
Quoted: “This downward cycle has been brutal,” said Kevin Schoessow, a University of Wisconsin-Extension agent in Washburn County.
At all locations, Jennifer Van Os, the University of Wisconsin Dairy Welfare Specialist will discuss dairy calf management to foster socialization that improves growth and performance.
The University of Wisconsin’s 2019 Midwest Manure Summit is being held Feb. 27 in the Lambeau Field Atrium, 1265 Lombardi Ave., Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“Specialty crops can add diversity in the long-term strength that really balances our outlook for agriculture,” he said during his presentation at the Wisconsin Agricultural Outlook Forum held in late January on the UW-Madison campus.
Mark Stephenson is director of dairy policy analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He said the 7 cent jump in the average hauling charges likely had a big impact on farms, especially given the continued low price for milk.
