Wisconsin’s cranberry industry generates nearly $1 billion annually and supports over 4,000 jobs in the state, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension. While 2025’s production of the fruit saw a slight decrease from the 6.01 million barrels harvested in 2024, the forecasted 5.3 million barrels will make up roughly 65% of the total U.S. supply.
In Wisconsin, grain farmers will likely face negative margins in 2025 as expected prices for corn and soybeans are below the estimated break-even points for Wisconsin producers, according to projections by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.
Once established, the fish could significantly impact sportfishing. Acy noted recreational fishing has a $234 million impact on the local economy, according to a 2006 survey by the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
They may flower in the spring but now is the time to dig up your peony plants. We talk to UW Extension Horticulture Outreach Specialist Lisa Johnson about how to make sure your peonies look great next spring.
The program evolved from a two-year research project led by Andrew Davey, director of the Goodman Nonprofit Center, and Sharon Lezberg, community and economic development educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in Dane County.
Laura Dresser, a co-author of the report and High Road Strategy Center associate director, said in a statement that the 2025 data shows “some real strengths for working Wisconsin owing to the strong recovery from pandemic shutdowns.”
“Long-standing inequalities are still with us, and federal policy puts substantial clouds on the horizon,” Dresser said. “I’m especially concerned about the administration’s attacks on the integrity of federal economic data.”
Johanna Oosterwyk, manager of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s instructional D.C. Smith Greenhouse, says that in general, fall is a great time for planting divided perennials, since the weather is cooler and there is usually plenty of rain to help plants establish. “This applies to digging up and dividing existing plants as well as planting new ones,” she adds.
Christelle Guédot, a fruit crop entomologist and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, says that Japanese beetles were once the bane of gardeners and farmers in the southern half of the state, but their range has since spread northwards.
“Over the past 10 years, they have been detected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection up in Bayfield. We also trap many hundreds in Spooner and we see them now in Door County,” Guédot said. The beetles have also been wreaking havoc in the northeastern counties, including Oneida and Vilas.
Dane Demo Farms, a collaboration between local farmers, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Dane County Land & Water Resources Department, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, provides opportunities for farmers to directly research local impacts of conservation practices.
Wisconsin lost thousands of dairy farms in the ‘90s. At one point, farmers received inflation-adjusted milk prices that were 20% lower than in 1960 and about half of the peak price in 1979, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.
“Tariffs, either on our part or on the part of our export market destinations, are not helpful for farmers in Wisconsin,” Chuck Nicholson, an agricultural economist at UW-Madison, said. “The longer we keep them in place, the bigger the negative impacts will be.”
“Precipitation for the most part has been maybe a little bit above normal, but not that much,” said Jerry Clark, the regional crops and soils educator at UW-Madison Extension in Chippewa County. “We’ve just had several high humidity, lot of moisture, precipitation days.”
In an increasingly tough housing market, a University of Wisconsin program seeks to give renters a leg up in their search for safe, affordable housing by educating them about the process and improving their standing with landlords.
Rent Smart, a free, six-module course developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, covers the essentials of renting — everything from what’s affordable, what to look for during an apartment inspection and what to ask a landlord while applying.
The goal of AIS Snapshot Day is to help the public learn to identify, report and control harmful species in state waters, said Emily Heald, rivers educator with the University of Wisconsin Madison Division of Extension.
The events are free and hosted by local experts on or near lakes, ponds, rivers and wetlands.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension is ending its 30-year-old FoodWIse nutrition education program and laying off more than 90 people after losing a federal grant.
UW-Madison Extension will wind down its FoodWIse programming following federal funding cuts, administrators announced Friday.
The move comes after the passage of President Donald Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which eliminated funding for the National Education and Obesity Prevention Grant Program (SNAP-Ed). The funding cuts go into effect on Sept. 30.
FoodWIse, a statewide program providing nutrition education to low-income families and community organizations, announced on Friday that its federal funding is being eliminated.
Most of the money goes to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, which offers programming in 70 of the state’s 72 counties. While UW Extension is exploring ways to sustain some SNAP-Ed capacity through alternative funding sources, it has already begun winding down operations. Layoff notices went out to 92 SNAP-Ed educators, UW Extension director Karl Martin said.
Jamie Nack is a senior wildlife outreach specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. If people encounter a bear outdoors, she said they should talk to the bear or shout at the animal and raise their arms over their heads to look bigger.
“You really don’t want to be turning and running, but just kind of backing away slowly and again just giving them an escape route for them to just go ahead and leave,” Nack said.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, created in 1978, supports the public and local county extension offices by receiving and analyzing several thousand insect samples each year. Every year, about two or three non-native insect species are discovered in Wisconsin. Some are only annoyances; others bring serious trouble. The latter is the case with the viburnum leaf beetle.
In Wisconsin, the beetle was first discovered in 2014 in counties west of Milwaukee. In 2019, UW-Madison entomologist P.J. Liesch, on a walk with his family, found an infested shrub. This spring, Liesch fielded dozens of questions from gardeners asking about it, as did Lisa Johnson, a Dane County Extension horticulture educator.
Tim Baye, a professor of business development and a state energy and energy finance specialist with the University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension, said developers have been rushing since November to get planned projects moving in time to qualify for tax credits.
While there may be an initial rush to meet requirements for tax credits in the short term, Baye said he expects the bill will cause a slowdown in renewable development once those incentives sunset.
“We’re going to see a real slowdown,” he said. “It’s going to have a chilling effect.”
The aesthetic damage is more than just cosmetic. “It’s the most common sawfly found infesting landscapes and Christmas tree plantations,” according to the University of Wisconsin, which notes these sawflies thrive in pines like Scots, red, Jack, and Mugo—common species in holiday tree lots.
During a recent training session for crops and soils specialists, plant pathologist Damon Smith with the University of Wisconsin says growers are experiencing weather that is ideal for corn tar spot infection.
“It’s too early to see symptoms now,” he told them, “but it is likely that infections are occurring and that growers need to be vigilant in their scouting of susceptible fields in coming weeks.”
The grant-funded research will also send University of Wisconsin students to farmers’ markets in Marathon, Portage, Wood, Waupaca and Adams counties this summer through summer 2027 to collect data on things like where are people visiting from, how much money do they intend to spend at the market and other area businesses, and what they love about farmers’ markets, Haack said.
“With county fairs, there’s always a lot of movement of cattle whether it’s within the county or if there are open shows,” Jerry Clark, a crops and soils educator with UW-Madison’s Division of Extension, said. “These cattle are moving across county lines and so it’s just another way that fairs are doing their part.”
One of the greatest privileges of serving as Alice was working with the Dairy Innovation Hub, a collaboration between UW–Madison, UW–Platteville, and UW–River Falls. This partnership allowed me to highlight the incredible research being done in dairy science, from improving sustainability and animal health to advancing food safety and agricultural technology. These researchers and students are writing the next chapter of our state’s agricultural legacy, one data set at a time.
“A lot of Wisconsin businesses have been struggling with finding employees, and they have been for a number of years, going back to before COVID,” said Steven Deller, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison and one of the report’s authors.
The Emerging Crops Accelerator program through Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison included fiber flax production in its November 2024 strategic plan. The team has supported Schroeder’s studies through supporting her grant applications and finding her farming equipment.
You will find good information online from the Pacific Bulb Society and, of all places, Extension Horticulture of the University of Wisconsin.
Bats, birds, turtles, coyotes and more are the subject of study and conservation efforts, especially in the spring when they can be readily seen. We talk again to David Drake and Jamie Nack, wildlife specialists with UW-Extension, about these and other Wisconsin critters.
Fortunately, a little basic sense and some insider tips can help us avoid the perils of Wisconsin’s outdoors — or at least deal with the effects of ill-fated encounters. One valuable resource on that front is a free 40-page booklet from the University of Wisconsin-Extension titled “Outdoor Hazards in Wisconsin: A Guide to Insects, Plants, and Wildlife.”
Kevin Jarek, regional crops and soils educator with UW-Madison’s Division of Extension for Outagamie & Winnebago counties, noted, “If I were to go to counties like Shawano and Waupaca, especially the western parts of those counties, they get much lighter in soil. It’s a sandy loam texture, whereas here as we get closer to Lake Michigan, we tend to have a lot of clay.”
The National Farm Medicine Center was established in 1981 as a nonprofit entity dedicated to rural health and safety research and service. It partners with Marshfield Clinic Research Institute and the University of Wisconsin Extension on studies that have shown strong results over time.
Daniel Smith with UW Extension’s integrated pest and crop management says that since February, the temperatures have warmed up and had more precipitation.
Martin Ventura, the Urban Agriculture and Community Gardens Specialist at UW-Madison Extension, manages and maintains farms in the Milwaukee area, some of which are farmed by immigrants, particularly in the Hmong community. UW-Extension, Ventura said, had a former partnership with the Hmong American Friendship Association to establish a Hmong heritage garden plot, allowing local communities to farm.
Birds, amphibians, large predators and their babies all come out in springtime, explain our guests, two UW-Extension wildlife specialists. Then, we talk to a filmmaker and Wisconsin native about his Tomah-area film project.
As expected with a warmer climate, the season for collecting maple sap will shift to earlier in the year, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.
Another good resource for gardeners is the University of Wisconsin Extension. The scientists and specialists experience the same gardening challenges when it comes to weather conditions and pest management and can provide geographically specific advice to plant what food crops.
Liatris, also known as blazing star or gayfeather, are flowering plants native to North America. The perennials appear dead during winter but bloom again in spring. They’re known for their bright purple flowers and are popular with pollinators, per the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
With the growing popularity of podcasts in recent years, there has never been a better — or more convenient — time to be a lifelong learner.
Dan Smith with UW Extension’s integrated pest and crop management, says the recent snowfall is good for their crops, but it may not be enough to keep crops like alfalfa, wheat, and small grains from winter kill.
“There are a couple of factors that we should consider when we’re thinking about winter kill, for alfalfa, we’re primarily considering those conditions where we don’t have snow cover, like December and January this year,” explained Smith.
Meanwhile, the price of conventional eggs is beholden to supply and demand, said poultry specialist Ron Kean of the University of Wisconsin Extension.
“The price of those really goes up and down according to national demand,” Kean said. “I like to think of it like gasoline prices, where it can really fluctuate a lot.”
Offering classes under the broad umbrella of “independent living skills” are people like Amanda Kostman, a family living educator with the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Human Development and Relationships Institute.
Of course, $3.65 is just an average. Egg prices are similar across most U.S. states but can vary slightly, said University of Wisconsin-Extension poultry specialist Ron Kean.
“I would say the Midwest tends to be a little bit cheaper, but, by and large, prices are pretty similar, because we can ship eggs pretty easily,” Kean said. “So, if they’re a lot cheaper in one place, people will probably ship (those) eggs to the more expensive areas.”
We call it “adulting” when young people face grown-up situations. But there are actual classes that teach independent living, financial literacy and health maintenance skills. Amanda Kostman, a UW-Extension Family Living Educator, joins us to explain.
Extension Specialist for Poultry Science at UW Madison, Ron Kean, is urging farmers to take extensive measures to prevent the virus from spreading to their flocks.
“Keeping them indoors, if possible, certainly cleaning and disinfecting anything that’s coming into the flock,” said Kean. “People tend to be a big carrier, we think. So, changing clothes, changing shoes, especially, or designated footwear.”
After years of reorganization, the Agriculture Institute within the UW-Madison Division of Extension has a growing staff of experts and researchers to help Wisconsin farmers. Institute director Heidi Johnson and Extension specialist Steven Hall join us.
Plus, how to budget for the holidays with Clare Dahl, a financial educator with UW-Madison Division of Extension in Dane County.
A 2021 study done by UW-Extension researchers found the proposed trail connection could attract hundreds of thousands of cyclists and snowmobilers from across the region, generating more than $6 million a year in direct economic impact.
A program of UW-Extension and a free community resource, Covering Wisconsin has Health Insurance Navigators located within communities throughout the state who help people understand their options, compare plans, connect with programs that provide financial help, and sign up. Farmers can get help understanding how being self-employed impacts their eligibility in programs and how to find affordable coverage.
While beef-on-dairy production continues to grow in the U.S., it was a novel concept in 2018 when it came to the attention of Ryan Sterry, regional dairy educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.
“A few colleagues and myself were noticing more chatter about this, more farms were experimenting with it,” Sterry recalls.
UW Extension Educator Kevin Schoessow is back to talk about the Spooner Agriculture Research Station. And the food they have donated to local organizations. We also talk about the work being done at the Savannah Institute to integrate trees and shrubs with crops and livestock on farms.
“Bulbs are going to need a 12- to 16-week chilling period. When you put them in the ground that temperature should go down slowly, so they have the first 3 to 5 weeks developing their roots at 45 to 50 degrees, and then the next 3 weeks at 38 to 42 degrees,” said Lisa Johnson, horticulture educator for University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension.
“Fall is the best time to look at perennial weed control,” said Jerry Clark, a northwestern Wisconsin crops and soils educator who serves Chippewa, Dunn and Eau Claire counties through the Division of Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Melissa Kono trains other municipal clerks around the stateas an associate professor with UW-Madison Extension Trempealeau County.
“There are outright threats, right? But there are also comments and things that are said that feel threatening,” she said.
For more than a decade, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension has been offering the opportunity for people to become Master Naturalists by attending expert-led training sessions and volunteering their time to conservation efforts. Altogether, Master Naturalists volunteer over 25,000 hours of service each year to over 700 organizations across the state.
Turf expert Doug Soldat is back with his annual fall lawn tutorial. We talk with him about the latest in lawn care research.
In the last half hour Native Plant Garden Curator at the UW-Madison Arboretum, Susan Carpenter is back. She’ll have updates on classes and tours, and what’s happening in the fall native gardens.
Homeowners and communities can also take steps to slow the spread. Ash trees should be checked out for emerald ash borer symptoms, and insecticides can be applied according to guidelines provided by a certified arborist or the University of Wisconsin extension. Trees can also be removed, and replaced with non-susceptible species.
“Location during retirement is often based on an individual’s situation and desires. Many of the factors that should be considered will be specific to the person, couple, or family,” says Jonathon Ferguson a financial capability specialist with the Financial Education Division of Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Yet, all retirees or soon to be retirees can benefit from understanding the taxation implications of their retirement locations. State rules regarding taxation of pension benefits, social security benefits, long term capital gains, etc. can vary a lot.”
Clare Dahl, a financial and life span educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, supports the change.
“Any time that access to free tax filing is expanded, it’s good news for everyone,” said Dahl, whose division supports the volunteer-run Richard Dilley Tax Center.
