Includes Q&A with Jonathan Ferguson, financial capability specialist, University of Wisconsin-Madison-Financial Education Division of Extension.
Category: Extension
Some Wisconsin employers say finding seasonal help was easier this year than last 2 summers
That comes as the state’s labor force participation rate — a measure of people working or looking for work — among teens aged 16 to 19 declined from 66.5 percent in 2000 to 56.5 percent in 2022, according to research from the University of Wisconsin-Extension. That still exceeded the national rate in 2022 of 36.8 percent among teens.
Garden Talk: Become a Master Gardener
Want to protect trees from caterpillars? Madison is looking for volunteers
The insects will need to be crushed and brushed into soapy water. Volunteers can refer to instructions posted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for instructions on how to destroy the caterpillars.
Wisconsin home prices have more than doubled over the last decade
The median home price in Wisconsin has more than doubled over the last decade, as supply has failed to keep up with demand after homebuilding slowed during the Great Recession. That’s according to new data from the Wisconsin Realtors Association, or WRA, and a new report from the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
Steven Deller, professor of agricultural and applied economics at UW-Madison, authored the report. He said many were hoping to see downward pressure on prices in response to the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, but that hasn’t happened yet. Deller said high mortgage rates have had a modest effect on demand for homes, but a greater influence on those who currently own a home to postpone older couples from downsizing or young families upsizing, keeping some homes off the market.
“The normal churn in the housing market, the new supply of housing or the increase of existing homes going on the market is actually dropping a little bit more than the decline in demand,” he said.
Wisconsin is getting a new, vast weather station network. Here’s why it’s a game-changer.
A mesonet is a network of weather and environmental monitoring stations that observe mesoscale meteorological events — that is, local events that affect certain areas more than others. That can include extreme weather like heavy rain, hail, flooding and wind gusts. The key is they happen over a few miles to a few dozen miles, said Chris Kucharik, director of the mesonet project and professor and department chair of agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Access map launches to help Northeast Wisconsinites find food help
To help people find culturally-inclusive foods and food services, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Brown County launched a new map to help people find food and food services in northeast Wisconsin. It includes things such as food pantries, electronic benefit transfer locations, meal programs and community gardens.
“We collect food pantry statistics and in the last couple of months we have seen an increase in the number of households using food pantries,” said Clarice Martell, one of the extension staff members who worked on the map project. “We hope that this map can make it easier for food insecure households to locate food resources near to them.”
Survey: Value of Wisconsin farmland continues to climb in 2023
A report from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension found the average price of agricultural land sold in the state last year was $5,551 per acre. That’s 11 percent higher than in 2021 and nearly 24 percent higher than in 2020.
Heather Schlesser, the Extension agriculture educator who prepared the report, said the sustained increases trace back to the cash farmers received from federal COVID-19 assistance programs. She said at the same time, many farmers decided it was the right time to sell land.
“It’s all about give and take, supply and demand,” she said. “There’s not a lot of ag land out there. So if there’s more money out there and there’s less land, the farmers that are selling are going to want more for it. So I think that started driving it.”
UW–Madison highlights their impact on communities across the state
Vice Chancellor for University Relations Charles Hoslet said that the university has positively impacted every part of the state since it was founded in 1848. “From the beginning, UW–Madison has been a vital contributor to the state’s industry and economy, and has helped raise people’s standard of living,” Hoslet said.
Medicaid covers 1.6 million in Wisconsin. Now they face ‘unwinding.’
Losing health insurance can be a devastating event in someone’s life, said Peterson and Allison Espeseth, director of Covering Wisconsin, which is housed in Extension at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Early hot temps help farmers get into the field sooner
“Planting early with soybeans especially can be really profitable,” said Sam Bibby, a regional crops educator with the UW Extension, covering Sauk, Vernon and Juneau counties.
Varying temperatures mean different maple syrup seasons for northern, southern Wisconsin producers
Dane County resident Dominic Ledesma is one hobbyist who jumped on the early warm weather. Ledesma, who is chief diversity officer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension, started tapping trees at his home and his family’s cabin in Jackson County last year after learning about the craft from his colleagues. He said sap was flowing in when he first tapped his trees in February, but collection slowed down in Jackson County as the weather turned cold again.
“The season really didn’t take off,” he said. “In talking with other colleagues in Extension, I certainly noticed some very significant differences between the southern part of the state and Jackson County.”
Those soapy bubbles on trees are caused by stem flow mixing
Or, as the webpage of the University of Wisconsin’s extension division explains: “The immature bugs feed face down on the stem, and as excess sap is excreted out the anus, it is mixed with a substance secreted by epidermal glands that enhances surface viscosity and stabilizes the foam to make it last longer.”
Some Wisconsin shoppers are paying $8 for a dozen eggs. Here’s why prices have soared.
Noted: Chicken flocks are still down 5% to 6%, said Lou Arrington, an emeritus professor of poultry sciences at University of Wisconsin-Extension who works with the Wisconsin Poultry & Egg Association. That may not seem a lot, but it has an outsized impact because demand for eggs is “inelastic” — it doesn’t vary much as prices rise or fall, he said. Bakeries and other food producers’ need for eggs hasn’t changed, and consumers have sucked it up and continue to pay prices that may make them gasp, Arrington said.
“I don’t think the individual producer has a lot to say about it,” he said of the nationwide forces that have driven up prices.
The Easiest Tips For Getting Stale Smells Out Of Your Vintage Pieces
According to the University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension, many bad smells result from either strong bases or acids. Baking soda works by neutralizing both basic and acidic elements, and thereby, eliminating the associated odors in the process.
All The Facts About Steak Grades Explained
There’s a reason why prime beef is so well-known: It’s the choicest of cuts. Prime beef is simply the best of the best, and there’s a good reason to back this up. According to a report from Robert Holland at the Center for Profitable Agriculture, this particular beef grade is the most palatable, tender, and flavorful. It takes a lot to be recognized as prime beef: The beef needs to be sourced from young cattle that are under 30 months old and chock-full of all of those fats that make steak so mouth-watering (via Extension University of Wisconsin).
Madison looks for new ways to support Black business owners
Diana Hammer, an associate professor for UW-Madison Extension in Fond du Lac, has studied the needs of Black business owners throughout Wisconsin. She list three keys for business owners: networks, access to good information and access to financing. But those three things can be difficult for Black entrepreneurs to access, especially financing.
“There was a very large sense of distrust of banks and just a huge preference for self-financing,” Hammer said.
David Lloyd Ankley
David started his 32 year UW-Extension career in Marinette County in 1965, eventually becoming Portage County’s Agriculture Agent in 1970, retiring in 1996. The highlight of his career was being Executive Secretary of 1982s WI Farm Progress Days.
Agricultural Educators show-off hemp research crops
Quoted: “We’re looking at 18 different varieties from around the world and which ones can maybe produce the best grain or the best for future use if industrial hemp becomes more of a mainstream crop,” UW-Madison Extension Chippewa County Agricultural agent, Jerry Clark, said.
UW-Madison Extension Buffalo County Agricultural Educator, Carl Duley, says the fiber and grain produced from industrial hemp has many different uses.
“Right now they are approved for human food, not for animal feed at this point, but they are used a lot in health food stores like granola,” Duley said. “There’s a lot of flour made after the oil is squeezed out.”
Madison program empowers communities of color in agriculture
The programming also includes guest speakers such as local master gardeners and folks from some of Urban Triage’s partners like UW-Extension, Rooted-Troy Gardens and the Farley Center.
UW-Madison program creates water quality outreach team
With water issues a concern for much of the country, Wisconsin is also taking a look at how to protect the state’s water quality.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension has created four new roles within the Agriculture Water Quality Program to promote outreach and environmentally-friendly farming practices. The program is led by co-program managers John Exo and Amber Radatz.
State program helps people with disabilities remain in the workforce
Noted: When assisting farmers, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation partners with the AgrAbility program, a collaboration that includes University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, to assess needs and provide adaptive technologies.
Online gardening class being offered this fall through UW-Madison for beginners, novices, and experts
The UW-Madison Division of Extension Horticulture Program in Rock County is offering a new online course called Growing and Caring for Plants in Wisconsin: Foundations in Gardening.
Plastic has made farming easier, but what happens to the material after it’s used?
Quoted: Melissa Kono is a community development educator in Clark and Trempealeau counties for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension.
She said farmers use plastic sheeting to protect hay and silage from the elements in order to feed their livestock all winter. Some forms of these plastics include top covers for silage bunkers — think white tarp covering mounds of silage with tires holding the tarp down — long bags that hold long, skinny rows of silage and wrap for individual hay bales.
“Their other option for silage would be a silo and those are very costly to construct,” Kono said. “Having a silage pile makes it easier to access, especially if farmers don’t have a lot of space, or makes it more accessible to feeding animals, which helps cut down on time and cost. I just think because farmers are stretched so very thin these days, having plastics to use has probably made it more economical.”
How To Save Your Garden Plants During Drought and Heatwaves
Quoted: “Extended drought can lead to the total collapse of the photosynthetic machinery and it can take long time for the plants to rebuild their roots and internal mechanisms,” Vijai Pandian, a horticulture educator at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension, told Newsweek.
“This can cause long term impacts … and the drought effect symptoms often continue for [the] next few years,” he said.
New tool shows Wisconsin farmers financial benefits of letting cows graze
Quoted: John Hendrickson, farm viability specialist for UW-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, helped develop the tool for the Grassland 2.0 project. Started in 2020 using a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the collaboration between researchers from UW-Madison and other universities, farmers and agriculture industry leaders is working to encourage farmers to adopt the use of grasslands.
“We want farms to be financially viable and sustainable for the long term,” he said. “But of course the Grasslands 2.0 project also has this larger look at the entire landscape and climate change and soil erosion and what can we do to have a more sustainable agricultural system on the landscape.”
Social impact worker cooperatives gain adherents in Madison with accelerator kickoff, growth
The recent interest in worker co-ops is driven by several factors, said Courtney Berner, executive director of the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives, adding there are just over 700 businesses in the state that have incorporated as cooperatives. “I’ve seen that interest increase since the (2008) recession … a push back against Wall Street,” she said. “There’s the trend of baby boomers that are retiring. How do we retain those businesses?”
Linda Martin Clauder
Linda spent her entire professional career in public broadcasting, beginning in the WHA Radio record library in Old Radio Hall, through her leadership of Wisconsin Public Radio and Television’s cultural programming. She initiated recording and broadcast of statewide festivals and concerts and helped found the popular series “Sunday Afternoon Live” from the (then) Elvehjem Museum.
USDA grant aims to address sustainability in Wis. farmers’ markets and equitable food access
The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded UW-Madison Extension a $200,000 grant that will be used to study six different farmers’ markets in north central Wisconsin.
UW ag experts say spring planting dates still on track
Although April has been cold and wet, University of Wisconsin-Madison agronomists say farmers shouldn’t start stressing out just yet.
“Despite the fact that we are about two weeks behind where we were a year ago, we are still on track for maximum yields for corn and soybeans,” says Shawn Conley, UW Soybean and Small Grains Extension Specialist.
According to Joe Lauer, UW-Madison Agronomy Professor, “last year we were earlier than normal – in fact, it was one of the earliest planting seasons on record.”
What the 2022 bird flu outbreak means for Wisconsin poultry
Noted: The virus’s spread has accelerated northward with the spring migration of many North American bird species, explained Ron Kean, a poultry specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.
Report: Pandemic triggers record spike in Wisconsin entrepreneurship
“We might have expected uncertainty about the pandemic and its effects on employment, income, healthcare, and safety to have stifled entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurship, which is already seen as risky, could have appeared even more so during the global COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote authors Hannah Julian, Ted Callon and Tessa Conroy in a report for UW-Madison Extension’s WIndicators series.
Mental Health First Aid training for WI Ag Community set for April 12
There is no doubt that farming can be extremely rewarding, yet also stressful and demanding. Various risk factors including weather, economic uncertainty, as well as, ever-evolving supply and demand changes, can take a toll on farmer’s mental health.
In order to address some of these issues, the University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension will be offering virtual and in-person educational programs to help the Wisconsin agricultural community identify and respond to a variety of behavioral health challenges.
Report: Amount of Wisconsin land being farmed declines in 2021
Quoted: Heather Schlesser is an agriculture educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in Marathon County. She said the state has seen many producers transition out of dairy farming, which requires a lot of land for growing feed.
“They were transitioning out of dairy, making that decision to retire because they’re getting older. Or maybe they’re still younger, but they’re switching into beef production,” Schlesser said. “You can only do that for so long before you’re like, ‘You know what, I really don’t need this land. I don’t want to deal with the renters anymore. There’s no one new coming on the farm.’ And then they’re just deciding to sell it off.”
Extension Farm Management webinars to address transition planning
Intentional conversations around farm succession and developing future plans for the farm provides a better chance of transition success. University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension will provide resources during the webinars to assist families in transition discussions and planning for the future.
Solar opponents say Wisconsin Constitution bars leases, ask regulators to toss permit application
UW-Madison law professor Heinz Klug said opponents may be misreading the clause, which was designed to prevent feudal tenure, a system of servitude, rather than restricting a landowner’s ability to lease out land.
What does record-low unemployment mean for Wisconsin? Experts weigh in
Quoted: Matt Kures, a community development specialist with UW-Madison Extension, and Laura Dresser, a labor economist and associate director of UW-Madison think tank COWS.
Dairy industry helps offset high fertilizer costs with manure in Wisconsin
Quoted: While other states brag big dairy and crop industries, Wisconsin’s insulation from fertilizer price spikes is thanks to having more cows per acre than corn per acre, according to Paul Mitchell, a professor in the UW-Madison department for Agriculture and Applied Economics.
“About a third of our nitrogen for corn comes from dairy manure,” Mitchell said. “And we have more cows per acre of cropland.”
However, manure isn’t easily accessible. It’s difficult to transport due to its high water content and therefore large volume, so it can’t usually go beyond it’s own farmland or crop farms neighboring dairy farms.
But it’s lack of transport ability shouldn’t dissuade you from seeking it out, according to Matt Ruark, a professor of soil science at UW-Madison and soil nutrient expert.
“We think of [manure] as a waste stream, but it is has relatively high nutrient value in terms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Those are big three nutrient inputs into our corn production systems,” Ruark said.
A rural Wisconsin syrup producer wants more to tap into the business
Jeremy Solin’s earliest memory from his family’s longtime syrup business is with his grandma, sitting at a kitchen table, pounding a nail through the top of a metal Folgers coffee can.
They wound a piece of wire through the can so they could hang it from the spout on a tree.
“We just used whatever we had, right?” he said.
Solin is a fourth-generation syrup producer with a farm just north of Antigo. He’s the maple syrup project manager for the University of Wisconsin-Extension and he runs Tapped Maple Syrup in Stevens Point.
Report: More Wisconsin women hold elected office. But the state is still far from equal representation.
Quoted: Victoria Solomon is a community development educator for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in Green County. She has studied women’s participation in local elected office and what barriers keep more women from running.
Solomon said one of the biggest factors affecting the number of women running for office is the fact that women are less likely to be asked to run for office.
“Having people who are thinking about who to ask to consider running for office, having those people think about starting with strengths and perspectives and experiences, and looking at diversity amongst those,” Solomon said. “We know that having diverse voices at the table helps build better decisions.”
McNeel collaborates with UW-Madison Division of Extension to explore career and educational opportunities
A new program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture will give youth in three Wisconsin counties the chance to work with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension to explore post-high school educational and work opportunities.
Talking turkey: UW Extension offers Thanksgiving tips
“Having that meat thermometer is going to be really important for turkey, because it’s not going to cook as fast as chicken. And if you forgot to thaw it all the way and you pop it in the oven, there’s that possibility that some parts aren’t going to be done,” said UW Extension educator Heather Quackenboss.
Check runoff risk before spreading manure
Quoted: “About 31% of preventable transportation-related manure spills are due to operator error,” said Kevin Erb, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension conservation professional training program director. “An accidental spill is not illegal, but failing to properly report and clean it up is.”
Here’s how Milwaukee bakers prepare their favorite lebkuchen — a classic German gingerbread with many varieties
Noted: Sugar does reduce water activity, and water is what lets microorganisms do their thing, said Barbara Ingham, professor of food science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a food safety specialist for UW’s Division of Extension. (“Just don’t eat raw dough,” she noted, since flour can be the subject of recalls for E. coli.)
Fall armyworm population wreaking havoc on Wisconsin crops
Noted: This year in Wisconsin, a fall armyworm population is present unlike anything most entomologists have ever seen. The pests are doing damage to alfalfa, winter wheat and other cover crops around the state. Bryan Jensen, UW-Extension Pest Management Specialist, shares that this warmer fall weather has helped to create a perfect storm for fall armyworms to thrive. Fall armyworms are different from the normal armyworms seen during late spring. The good news, according to Jensen, is they will most definitely not over-winter here in Wisconsin: they are a warm weather species, and will not survive the winter
Apartments are in short supply in Northeast Wisconsin. Here are some tips from housing experts that could help your search.
Noted: If you have a variable income, it’s best to base your budget on the lower end of how much you expect to be making so you can still over all your expenses in case your hours get cut or you get fewer tips than you were expecting, said MaryBeth Wohlrabe, a positive youth development educator who runs the Outagamie County Rent Smart program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension in the county.
‘Everybody pray for rain’: Southeastern Wisconsin crops and gardens could be damaged if drought and dryness continue
Quoted: Joe Lauer, an agronomist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, acknowledged that farmers are anxious about the dry weather, but said that he’s not concerned … yet.
“One of the characteristics of a record-breaking year (for corn) is a mini-drought during the months of May and June,” he said. Lauer explained that a dry spring allows farmers to plant without fighting wet fields.
If you are worried about your garden or lawn, horticulture educator Vijai Pandian from the UW-Madison Extension has some tips to mitigate drought stress on landscape and garden plants.
Development agencies will use pandemic relief funds to study region’s economic potential
The funds will also allow MadREP to update its comprehensive economic development strategy, called Advance Now 2.0, as well as the extensive accompanying reports on industry sectors. The 900 pages of reports, released in 2019 after years of research by MadREP and University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension, examined several key sectors for the region. Now, with new data released since, the agency would like to refresh those reports before acting on their findings. The agencies have not yet determined what contractors they will hire to conduct the studies.
Broadband internet transforms life, rural America is left behind
“For our future up here, broadband is the single most important thing,” said Christopher Starks, retired from the aerospace industry and now working with University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension.
Get some dirt under your nails
Perhaps you are a person who works full time at another job but dreams of owning a small farm someday. Or maybe you already operate a farm but want to add another enterprise or start a side business. Whatever your aspirations may be, some of the first steps in making this goal a reality is to create a plan and secure funding.
That was the topic discussed in a University of Wisconsin Division of Extension webinar, titled “Your farm startup: where to begin and who can help?” One of the speakers was Andy Larson, the Farm Outreach Specialist for the Food Finance Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With personal experience as a banker, extension educator, and farmer, one of his first pieces of advice was to “get some dirt under your fingernails.”
“Try it first,” Larson said. “Only real-life, on the ground experience can tell you whether your passion stands up to the daily grind.”
Column: For Money Smart Week, don’t be penny-wise, pound-foolish during the pandemic
The other free classes for Money Smart Week: “Personal Finance” hosted by the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center; “Housing Protections and Resources” by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and “Budgeting” by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Division of Extension.
UW-Extension to host new farm management AgriVision podcast series
UW-Madison Division of Extension has a new farm management podcast series based on the Wisconsin Agriculturist magazine’s Agrivision column. Katie Wantoch, associate professor and agriculture agent in Dunn County, hosts the podcast episodes and chats with fellow Extension educators to answer questions from farmers and share their knowledge and expertise on how farmers can improve their farm management skills.
Here’s how a Waukesha Neighborhood Watch Program is going ‘modern’ with Ring doorbell cameras
Noted: Because the association wants to equip as many homes as possible with the Ring devices, leaders had to seek out grant funding to buy the equipment. Salb said Steve Chmielewski, a community educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension Waukesha County, has helped facilitate that process, which involves Community Block Grant Funds.
Zoombombing an unwanted ‘education’ for Platteville
Quoted: Whether a registration requirement complies with open-meetings statute has not been tested in the Wisconsin court system, said attorney Philip Freeburg, with UW-Madison Division of Extension’s Local Government Center.
“The main thing about open meetings is to provide open access,” he said. “If you’re putting up barriers to that, I think you may be at some risk.”
UW-Madison claims nearly $31 billion in annual economic impact to Wisconsin
UW-Madison and its affiliated entities are an economic engine contributing $30.8 billion a year to the Wisconsin economy, according to a new report commissioned by the university and funded by UW Foundation.
Digital divide: Health, education, prosperity depend on high-speed internet
But the problem may be worse than we thought, according to a new UW Extension study, with implications for health, education and prosperity — problems that are further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed nearly every aspect of daily life — from business to school and even health care — online. “People are choosing to live in places they can have access,” said Tessa Conroy, an assistant professor of applied economics and the lead author of the study. “More and more it’s connected to so many facets of life.”
State Report: Housing, Child Care Shortages Among Challenges For Rural Wisconsin Communities
Among other recommendations in the report, the commission also called for the creation of government programs designed specifically for rural communities; the easing of local levy limits to give local governments greater flexibility to fund innovative programs; and boosting state funding for the county-level education programs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison known as the Division of Extension
Ways to help rural Wisconsin outlined in new report
Specifically, the report calls for investing in county-based educators employed through UW-Madison’s Extension division. The task force recommended partnering with UW Extension to help every region of the state understand its assets and create an area-specific development strategy.
Extension Dairy Program adjusts to help dairy farmers through COVID-19
The Extension Dairy Program at the UW Division of Extension thrives on working in-person with farming communities across the state of Wisconsin. When the pandemic hit, the program addressed pandemic-related issues in the dairy industry while transitioning to online programming.
UW Extension to host tractor, farm machinery safety course in Columbia Co.
The class is open to individuals 12 years old and up. Wisconsin law requires that youth under age 1 complete a tractor and machinery certification course before driving tractors on public roads.