Category: Extension

“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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Former Wisconsin 4-H Youth Development Director Greg Hutchins was inducted into the 4-H National Hall of Fame.

John Shutske is a health and safety specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension. He said there have been some anecdotal reports of outbreaks among workers at a few large farms in the state, but there hasn’t been good data available to understand the extent of the problem.

Nick Baker, agricultural agent for University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension in Rock County, said that likely influenced producers to get an early start this spring.

Karl Martin, who is serving as interim dean and director of the UW-Madison Division of Extension since June 2018, has been chosen to serve as the permanent dean and director of the division, the university announced Tuesday.

Mindful Money Moments will cover topics like dealing with a drop in income, managing money in tough times and options for paying back student loans, among other things.

The agency worked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Extension to create a program called “Unexpected Tomorrows,” where farmers can learn stress management techniques and share their experiences with depression, anxiety and loss. They also created a Farm Couples Weekend with workshops on improving communication.

Gail Huycke is a community development specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Huycke, who focuses on broadband access, lives in Phillips in the northern part of the state. Her internet runs slowly, about 8 to 10 megabits per second.

Kevin Jarek is the agricultural agent for University of Wisconsin-Extension in Outagamie County. He said some farmers are worried about another late planting season this year because the National Weather Service has reported precipitation numbers that are above average.

Though Dodge and Sauk counties have farmer-led conservation groups, Columbia County currently does not. However, George Koepp, agriculture agent with the University of Wisconsin-Extension Columbia County, said that may soon change. In March he and county conservation officials plan to meet with a variety of local farmers, which includes Schoepp, to discuss creating a farmer-led organization.

One of the proposals from the task force would create a new Office of Water Policy within the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, a part of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The office would be tasked with “coordinating efforts to manage, conserve, protect, and enhance the productivity of the state’s water resources,” according to the task force’s official report.

“It can be very difficult for a smaller farm to afford this technology because you need, you know, a larger operation to spread those expenses across,” said Liz Binversie, an agriculture educator in Brown County for the University of Wisconsin extension office. She said she knows of one farm that went out of business because it couldn’t find enough workers and could not afford a robotic milking system.

Gerald Whitburn, who served for nearly 10 years across two terms on the University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents, resigned Thursday, effective immediately.

One of the proposals from the task force would create a new Office of Water Policy within the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, a part of the University of Wisconsin-Extension. The office would be tasked with “coordinating efforts to manage, conserve, protect, and enhance the productivity of the state’s water resources,” according to the task force’s official report.

“We have started to raise awareness in our communities through several efforts,” said Debbie Moellendorf, who works in the areas of positive youth development and health and well-being as an educator with UW-Madison Extension Lincoln County.

The tests are part of a broader study of well contamination across the three counties conducted by county conservation officials, the University of Wisconsin-Extension and federal researchers.

Bradbury said language in the resolution restricting how study information would be released “doesn’t seem workable at all” for the University of Wisconsin Extension, which is heading up the study.

Noted: Liz Binversie, agricultural educator for University of Wisconsin-Extension in Brown County, said she has heard farmers describe silage as like pickling vegetables.

Agricultural educator Jamie Pfaff of UW Extension Jackson County said farmers are leveraging their farm to get loans, selling off or renting parts of their farm, diversifying crops and investing their time in multiple enterprises such as livestock.

Quarantine houseplants for a time after bringing them indoors, said Diana Alfuth, an Extension horticulture educator with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The flow of educational resources throughout Wisconsin does not stop at the halls of its university campuses. For over 100 years, Wisconsin’s universities have done outreach that connects farmers, families, youth and businesses to university research. The branch that facilitates this is known as the Division of Extension.

The idea stems from research done at the university showing children of jailed parents often lag behind their peers in literacy skills such as reading, writing and even speaking. Mary Huser, a program specialist with UW Extension, wanted to put that research into practice.

As a companion to Advance Now 2.0 is a series of in-depth analyses conducted by MadREP and UW-Madison Extension over the past several years that explores each of the sectors determined to be the area’s main employment clusters: information and communication technology; bioscience; health care; agriculture, food and beverages; and advanced manufacturing.

Erin Dahle, educational program support specialist in the Kewaunee County UW-Extension office, has been recognized for her work creating a Spanish version of Home Alone, an online class that helps prepare young people who are old enough to be left home without a caretaker.

Unbundled faculty teams aren’t all the same. The University of Wisconsin Extension, an arm of the state system that partners with member campuses on traditional and competency-based online programs, takes a bifurcated approach, with academic success coaches providing wraparound services to students and instructors overseeing individual courses.

“If we use row shut offs on our planters, to turn those implements on and off at exactly the right spot, we’re not double-planting, we’re not over spraying, we’re reducing skips and overlaps to maintain a profitable operation,” said Brian Luck, a biological systems engineer with University of Wisconsin Extension.