Skip to main content

Category: Agriculture

Former croplands could be ‘sweet spot’ for renewable-energy production

Posted on
Public News Service

Tyler Lark, research scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and one of the report’s co-authors, said some lands have been restored to natural ecosystems. Others, those perhaps currently populated by invasive species, could be the answer to big questions the country is facing about where to house increasing renewable-energy development.

“We ideally want to avoid our best and most productive ag lands but we also don’t want to encroach on pristine or native ecosystems,” Lark explained. “Formerly cropped lands might hit that sweet spot in the middle.”

Detecting agricultural pests through sound

Posted on
NPR

(Emily) Bick, an entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researches ways to better detect the agricultural pests that drive serious economic losses worldwide. She says improving these methods could result in using pesticides more strategically — less often, at just the right time.

How many manure spills is too many? St. Croix County residents scrutinize big farm’s new owner

Posted on
Wisconsin Watch

Wisconsin researchers are among a select few to document manure spill trends.

In 15 years, reported incidents statewide jumped from about 40 to roughly 200 annually, but Department of Natural Resources and University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension staff don’t believe their frequency actually increased.

Dairy shows remain ‘status quo’ at Wisconsin State Fair despite additional hurdles of avian flu

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

County fairs around the state have already gone through the additional testing requirements for avian flu this summer. The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory has received nearly 400 samples every week since June, according to director Keith Poulsen.

Poulsen said they could accommodate more tests, but there hasn’t been the demand.

UW Extension grant program helps producers conduct on-farm nitrogen research projects

Posted on
Wisconsin State Farmer

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension provides an abundance of resources to guide a producer’s decisions according to the 4 R’s of nutrient management: right source, right time, right rate, right place. But nutrient management is complex and site specific. To help producers and consultants get a better grasp of the nitrogen needs on individual farms, the Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP) was born.

The dairy farm of the future could employ robotics

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Dennis Hancock is center director at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, which will administer the new facility in partnership with the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. He said part of the decline in Wisconsin dairy farms can be attributed to workforce shortage and a possible solution is replacing some of the workforce with technology.

“One of the ways to save smaller farms, in my opinion and those that have actually made the conversion would agree, is through the use of robotics,” Hancock recently said on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” “Robotics are quite expensive, but they do save a lot of labor.”

Wisconsin farmers face profitability challenges with wet weather and soggy field conditions

Posted on
Wisconsin State Farmer

“We had the warmest February on record and our soil moisture was down to 16% in some areas. And now we’ve gone from one of the most severe deficits to one of the most severe surpluses (of moisture) in just a couple of months,” said Kevin Jarek, University of Wisconsin Division of Extension Crops and Soils educator for Outagamie County. “In my 25 years with Extension, this is unbelievable.”

New Alice in Dairyland Halie Heinzel hopes to connect consumers with agriculture

Posted on
Wisconsin State Farmer

I recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Life Sciences Communication. With the opportunity to serve as Alice in Dairyland, I am so excited to travel across Wisconsin for a memorable and rewarding year, connecting communities with agriculture and learning more about this diverse industry across our state.

Here’s what last year’s dry summer and a mild winter mean for this year’s Japanese beetles invasion in Wisconsin

Posted on
Green Bay Press-Gazette

PJ Liesch, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, began seeing reports of Japanese beetle activity the last week of June, which is typical. Numbers will increase during their prime feeding months of July and August when they damage (but usually don’t kill) roses, grape vines, basil, raspberries, crabapples, birches and ornamentals, among others, by skeletonizing the leaves.

Don’t order ladybugs through the mail. Here’s how Wisconsin gardeners can attract helpful predators

Posted on
Wisconsin State Farmer

With a population explosion going on in the flowerbeds, what is a gardener to do? UW-Madison entomologist PJ Liesch says gardeners have several options in combating the hungry horde.

“If the population of aphids is not harming the plants or competing with the monarchs, you can just tolerate them. However, if it’s getting out of hand, blast them off with a jet of water (which causes the aphid’s mouthpiece to break off and eventually starve), or you can squish them and wipe them off the plant,” he said.

Fourth of July cookout costs in US rise by 5% this year, survey finds

Posted on
Reuters

Still, the overall increase of food prices in the United States in 2024 is expected to be about 2%, down from an average of 3% annually, Andrew Stevens, an economics professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Reuters.

“Yes, food prices are increasing, but they’re not increasing as much as they have in recent years, and they’re even a little below the long-run average,” Stevens said.

A UW-Madison study mapped millions of acres of abandoned U.S. farmland. Here’s why it matters.

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A team of scientists from the UW-led Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center mapped millions of acres of abandoned farmland across the U.S. over several decades in a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Knowing where this abandoned land is could help people evaluate it for different uses, including climate solutions, the team theorized.

Expert insights on crossbred cattle nutrition

Posted on
Wisconsin Ag Connection

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, in collaboration with the UW-Madison Animal and Dairy Science Department, is set to host a series of four in-person workshops focused on Beef X Dairy crossbred cattle from July 29 to August 1, 2024.

Eradication of insect pests and invasive plants

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

UW-Madison entomologist PJ Liesch is back. We talk with him about what’s hampering  the spread of spongy moths in Wisconsin. We also talk about how climate change is aiding the spread of joro spiders to northern regions. Then, two WDNR invasive species specialists share success stories from across the state.

UW-Madison researcher develops ice cream that doesn’t melt

Posted on
Wisconsin State Journal

In the UW-Madison basement-level lab, the answer was largely predestined. One scoop was regular ice cream, not unlike what visitors could buy upstairs at the Babcock Dairy store. The other was a concoction of UW-Madison Ph.D. researcher Cameron Wicks, in which an addition of polyphenols — compounds naturally occurring in plants such as blueberries and green tea leaves — helps ice cream keep its shape by counteracting melting ice crystals.

Groups claim manure digesters contribute to pollution in Kewaunee County

Posted on
WPR

Researchers, including Brian Langolf of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, say digesters cut greenhouse gas emissions by capturing methane from manure in open lagoons. Around 36 percent of methane emissions from human activities are tied to livestock or agricultural practices, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Wisconsin scientist: Plants respond to biting insects faster than you might think

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Simon Gilroy, a University of Wisconsin-Madison botany professor, is among a handful of scientists uncovering how plants respond to the world. But Gilroy hesitates to use the word “intelligence” when talking about them.

“One of the things that we do as humans is we anthropomorphize all the time. Inanimate objects, we attribute them human characteristics. And it’s just built into our DNA of how we interact with the world … so that must be how everything else operates,” Gilroy told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” recently. “That can sometimes totally get in the way.”

Cicada records help scientists study long-term health impact of pesticide exposure

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Jason Fletcher, professor of public affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said during the early 20th century, producers of tree crops like apples commonly used the chemicals when preparing for an emergence.

“Because cicadas are known, when they’re coming and where they’re going to be in general terms, certainly in the past, farmers tried to protect their crops by dousing everything with pesticide,” he said.

Dairy cows cut the cheese, UW-Madison researchers cut the emissions

Posted on
The Capital Times

There’s a farm in the little town of Arlington, 20 miles north of Madison, that looks and smells like any other Wisconsin dairy operation. Its 550 cows are milked twice daily, once before dawn and again in the afternoon, like they are at thousands of dairy farms across the state. 

But at this farm — the University of Wisconsin’s Agricultural Research Station — when a cow eats, gets milked and burps, a data point is created. That data collection is helping researchers at UW-Madison adapt Wisconsin’s herd to the challenges of climate change. 

Rainfall leads to improvement in Wisconsin drought conditions

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Less than 1 percent of the state is considered to be experiencing drought, according to the latest map from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

It’s made for a quick end to a long period of drought, state climatologist Steve Vavrus said.

“Drought has virtually disappeared from Wisconsin finally, after 12 solid months,” he said.

Farm safety experts say Wisconsin law may let youth operate tractors too early

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

John Shutske, professor and agricultural safety & health specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said from the beginning, Wisconsin’s age minimum has been much younger than other farm states who have similar requirements. National best practices for farm safety recommend youth be at least 14 years old before being allowed to operate equipment.

Bird flu, raw milk debate converge

Posted on
The Hill

“These claims — I’m a chemist by trade — just make no sense whatsoever on any kind of science or chemistry basis,” University of Wisconsin–Madison food science professor John Lucey told The Hill. “I’ve been doing research on dairy products and milk for 20-plus years,” Lucey added. “In my field, nobody gives credence to these fantastic claims.”

‘Climate Trackers: Superpowered by Ecometeorology’ shows the power of combinations and collaborations

Posted on
PBS Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin–Madison Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences professor Ankur Desai and his lab conduct ecometeorological research, a cross-pollination of meteorology and ecology. At Seven Seeds Farm, they investigate how cattle farming on silvopastures impacts climate.

Fear over avian flu has died down for Wisconsin dairy farms. But experts warn of continued threat.

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Jackie McCarville is a regional dairy educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in southwestern Wisconsin. She also feels like concern around avian flu has died down, especially as many farms begin work in their fields this spring.

“But I think it’s still in the back of a lot of minds: what happens if it does get into Wisconsin?” McCarville said. “What considerations should we be looking at? It’s a great time to look at your biosecurity plan to see what you can do to protect your farm.”

Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said much of the national dairy industry has been opposed to doing more testing for the virus on farms. He said the number of avian flu tests in cattle across the country has actually declined since the federal order requiring them went into place.

‘Here & Now’ Highlights: Peter Hart-Brinson, Eileen Newcomer, Dr. Keith Poulsen

Posted on
PBS Wisconsin

Dr. Keith Poulsen, director of the UW-Madison Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, has been monitoring a strain of avian influenza called H5N1 that has so far been identified in dairy cows in nine states. It has not been found in Wisconsin, but Poulsen said researchers are testing cows that are transported across state lines.

Does ‘No Mow May’ actually help pollinators? How can you participate? Here’s what to know

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Do pollinators actually benefit from an unmowed lawn? Sometimes. It depends on the lawn, according to experts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Lawns with turfgrass don’t provide as many resources for pollinators compared with a yard containing an abundance of low-growing flowering plants. Adding more flowering plants, shrubs and trees to your yard can increase benefits to pollinators.

New scarecrows: Lasers aim to deter wild birds and reduce disease on Wisconsin farms

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Avian flu remains prevalent in Wisconsin’s wild bird populations and the risk to farms this year is about the same as recent years, said Ron Kean, a poultry specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Kean said lasers are a great option to reduce spread of the disease.

“Keeping the wild birds away from our domestic birds seems to be a big part of biosecurity,” he said.

How sheep could be a key to Wisconsin’s solar energy future

Posted on
The Capital Times

This spring Alliant Energy and the University of Wisconsin-Madison will break ground on a 2.25 megawatt, roughly 15-acre solar array that will be used to study agrivoltaics at the university’s Kegonsa Research Campus 10 miles southeast of Madison.

Researchers will study the soil and water quality of the solar site, its effect on wildlife, and the feasibility of grazing animals and growing crops among the array, said Josh Arnold, UW-Madison campus energy adviser.

Wisconsin dairy farms closely watching avian flu cases in cattle

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, said the case highlights the importance of immediate action by dairy farmers if they see disease symptoms in their animals, which can include decreased lactation and low appetite. He said the people working on a farm with sick animals should be monitored closely.

“We don’t think that it’s a significant public health threat at this point,” Poulsen said. “But just like in our farms with poultry (highly pathogenic) avian influenza, they’re getting a large challenge, so we need to watch them very closely, and make sure that everyone is provided with the best public health care that we have available.”

Innovative research into cover crops is helping Oneida white corn co-op restore depleted soil

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

For the members of Ohe·láku, a co-op of Oneida Nation families growing their traditional white corn together, what started as an experiment has become a success story.

A few years ago, they partnered with the University of Wisconsin-Madison to test different cover crop mixes to restore soil they grow on, which had been depleted under prior ownership. Cover crops are left in the soil after the primary crop is harvested. The idea is to make sure the fields are never bare, increasing soil fertility, limiting runoff and keeping the soil moist.

With maple syrup season coming early, Wisconsin specialist wants to tap into state’s full potential

Posted on
Wisconsin Public Radio

During a strangely warm winter that made maple trees ready to share their sap earlier than usual, a Wisconsin forestry outreach specialist found a constant: The state still has a lot of trees ripe for tapping.

While Wisconsin trails Vermont, New York and Massachusetts for maple syrup production, Wisconsin has more untapped maple trees than any other state, according to Tony Johnson, a natural resources educator for the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

“There is a lot of room for growth,” Johnson said recently on WPR’s “Central Time.”

Wisconsin plants ‘confused’ by mild winter, now freezing temps

Posted on
Spectrum News

“For the staff here, it’s tracking these events over time, and seeing how they differ between different years,” said UW-Madison Arboretum ecologist Brad Herrick.

He’s worked there for 17 years, so he’s able to compare each season. He said this year is a weird one.

“We’ve had really sharp temperature swings from February on,” he said.

Fresh. Buttery. Soapy. Astringent. Enter the world of professional cheese tasting.

Posted on
Green Bay Press Gazette

It’s quiet as a group of eight people stand bent at the waist, intently staring at a pizza sitting on a gleaming stainless-steel counter.

It’s an early March Wednesday morning, and they are in the Hilmar Cheese Dairy Applications Lab of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Dairy Research.

Inside the world of championship cheese judging: supertasters, palate cleansers and puns

Posted on
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Arnoldo Lopez-Hernandez grew up in Mexico and has a chemical engineering background. He became involved in cheese after he started teaching food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He started judging at the world championships a decade ago.

Also from UW-Madison is John Jaeggi, whose grandfather immigrated from Switzerland in the 1920s and started a Swiss cheese plant in Monroe County. Jeaggi remembers sitting under a table as a 7-year-old “mesmerized” by the process and sneaking samples.