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.
“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.”
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.
Fuenzalida recently received her doctorate in dairy science from University of Wisconsin—Madison, where she gained extensive experience collaborating with dairy farmers and conducting research trials on dairy farms.
UW Extension agents estimate more than 200 farms had buildings damaged or destroyed by heavy snow and high winds in late February. That includes almost every farm in Trempealeau County.
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.
Most of the losses occurred in Buffalo and Trempealeau counties, which border the Mississippi River just north of La Crosse, UW-Extension officials said.
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.
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.
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.
Upham Woods and the University of Wisconsin Regents have no plans to revisit removing a fence that has sparked protests and controversy for nearly three years, despite the efforts of the Wisconsin Dells Stewards to force the fence’s removal.
The centers provide entrepreneurs with new or existing businesses personalized consulting services to start, manage and grow their businesses. The program was founded in 1980 and in Wisconsin is part of UW Extension.
The cities of Ashland, Washburn and Bayfield are looking to do a study for similar reasons, said Kellie Pederson, community development educator with Bayfield County, University of Wisconsin-Extension.
A 2014 study by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension showed the trail had a $26.4 million economic impact on the region — a number that included mountain biking and skiing.
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.
An important consideration in early planting is spring-frost occurrence, which can damage or destroy the crop – but only after emergence at 15 to 25 days after planting.
Despite winter’s grasp, spring will soon arrive! Prepare for it by attending the 13th annual “Spring into Gardening” conference hosted by Racine County and Kenosha County Division of Extension. The line-up of speakers includes local plant experts, University of Wisconsin specialists and Master Gardeners.
This the 18th year they have offered this service, but they said this year is particularly important. This is the first year that the 2017 federal tax law will impact people’s returns.
In partnership with the University of Wisconsin-Extension, produce growers can prepare their farm for inspections by participating in produce-safety training. The training is required for fresh-produce growers who must meet the federal produce-safety rules.
Recently released research by UW-Madison economists cites figures that indicate, if prime age (25-54 years old) female labor force participation increased to the level of male labor force participation, there would be an additional 72,000 women in the labor force in Wisconsin.
George Koepp, the agriculture agent for Columbia County’s UW-Extension, said having federal farming agencies on furlough put farmers in a tough position to sign up for crop loans or tariff refunds.
Customers at the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry are seeing healthier food options on the pantry’s shelves. Together with the UW-Extension-Oneida County office, the RAFP is promoting a healthier diet and improved nutrition with the “Food Drive 5” program which encourages choosing food that is higher in protein, fruit, colorful vegetables, soups and whole grains.
As many farmers struggle to make ends meet, a workshop series from Trempealeau County’s UW-Extension is aimed at helping both longtime and new farmers find ways to make their farm as profitable as possible.
One of the resources out there for farms is AgrAbility. AgrAbility is a partnership between UW-Extension and Easter Seals of Wisconsin. This partnership helps farm families that are dealing with a farm injury, disability, or other limitation.
“When we get drastically below zero like this, it’s really hard. So for any of those animals that have been out-wintered, most of the farmers have either brought them in or tried to find them some sort of shelter to keep them warm and protected from the windbreaks,” said Heather Schlesser, an Ag Educator in Marathon County with the UW-Madison Division of Extension.
Some of the biggest concerns for livestock owners are maintaining dry bedding and supplying enough food, said Alana Voss, agriculture educator for the University of Wisconsin-Extension in Sauk and Juneau counties.
Farther north, those attending the 34th annual Superior Days — put on by the University of Wisconsin-Extension in mid-February — plan to lobby the state to increase reimbursement through the state’s Medicaid program.
Polluted well water has been an issue in Wisconsin for decades, according to Kevin Masarik, a groundwater specialist with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and UW-Extension.
This was the second time the German Butchers’ Association, American Association of Meat Processors and UW-Madison’s Extension meat science program have worked together to hold this off-site competition in conjunction with the main competition in Frankfurt.
Last summer, UW Cooperative Extension moved into the UW-Madison as part of the UW System reorganization. This move creates new opportunities for each organization to be a better resource for the state and its communities.
Diversity simply means “a range of different things.” It was not long ago when our Wisconsin farms, while largely centered on dairy production, were typically also home to chickens, hogs, and sheep. These other enterprises may have been minor, but they provided a level of insurance when dairy proved less than profitable.
Agricultural economists and commodity specialists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and UW-Extension will talk about the financial health of Wisconsin agriculture and the outlook for the year to come at the 12th annual Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook forum in Madison next week.
The financial health of Wisconsin’s farms and agricultural businesses, with a special focus on consolidation in the state’s dairy industry, are topics for the upcoming Wisconsin Agricultural Outlook Forum, which will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 29 on the UW–Madison campus.
Richard Halopka, a crops and soils agent with University of Wisconsin-Extension in Clark County, said he doesn’t believe there’s a hay shortage in Wisconsin, but rather the hay available is lower quality than people would like to purchase. Halopka said the biggest price increases have been for low quality hay.
Forty people, including students from Fox Valley Technical College and New London High School, heard Dr. Laura Hernandez from the Dairy Science Department at UW-Madison about her research on the mammary system of dairy cows.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Biological Systems and Engineering Doug Reinnemann said about 300 farms in the state are using an automatic robotic milking system and the number is “growing steady” among smaller farms — usually about 200 to 500 cows.
UW-Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources are co-hosting a series of concentrated animal feeding operation update meetings throughout the state in early February.
To keep farmers and industry professionals abreast of the latest technologies and techniques in animal waste management, University of Wisconsin-Extension is hosting the 2019 Midwest Manure Summit, February 27, 2019, Lambeau Field Atrium, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, the program is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Master Gardeners are trained volunteers who aid UW-Extension educators by helping people in the community better understand horticulture and their environment.
An unusually long economic down cycle in the dairy industry is taking its financial toll on area farmers and businesses.
This one-half day meeting is designed to help agribusiness professionals and agency staff feel more comfortable and confident working with families in distress, and to connect with others to provide support for the farming community.
The coming year will bring some exciting change to UW-Extension as we become the Division of Extension within UW-Madison. We are excited about this return to our historic home at UW-Madison and the potential it brings to tighten connections with the University’s award winning researchers and academic staff.
University of Wisconsin-Extension will offer a number of meetings across the state for farmers interested in learning about the new Dairy Revenue Protection program, a new federal insurance tool, with a quarterly payout to dairy farms when milk revenue falls below their insured revenue level.
As farmers hustle to finish the harvest, there is no sign of a letup in the long-term slump in commodity prices that are now being fed by trade and tariff tensions. The result is “almost a perfect storm,” says Mark Hagedorn, a UW-Madison Division of Extension dairy/animal science agriculture educator in Eau Claire County.
To propagate artisanal cider trees, a producer often needs to graft. That’s exactly what 50 people opted to do on a Saturday afternoon this past spring as participants in the inaugural Hard Cider Apple Grafting Workshop hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.
In early November, 15 individuals completed the 2018 UW-Extension Master Gardener Level 1 training course offered by the UW-Extension Horticulture Program in Racine and Kenosha Counties.
According to Tera Johnson, director of the UW System Food Finance Institute, big and bigger changes are here when it comes to food business trends.
The garden, which is a joint effort among the Spooner Agricultural Research Station, the Spooner Area UW-Extension Office and UW-Extension North Country Master Gardener Volunteers, completed against entrants in its category from across the U.S. and in Canada.
Sarah Mills-Lloyd is a licensed veterinarian who serves as the UW-Extension Oconto County agriculture agent, specializing in dairy and livestock. She recently shared suggestions for remodeling “retired” dairy facilities for beef herds, noting that the state has more beef farms than dairy farms.
AgrAbility of Wisconsin is a program designed to help farmers who have physical limitations or disabilities continue to farm. The program is primarily funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant and is a collaboration between UW-Extension and Easter Seals Wisconsin.
The University of Wisconsin-Extension in Barron and Polk counties has hired Becky Schley as a new agricultural educator. She will serve the two northwestern Wisconsin counties from a main office in Barron, Wisconsin.
The onset of colder conditions is the best time to take preventive measures to keep small animals — such as bats, mice and small rodents — from getting into homes, said Jamie Nack, wildlife outreach specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Extension.
To use data that applies specifically to their dairy, producers can use an online “Heifer Replacement” tool developed by Victor Cabrera, a dairy science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Farmers who are hesitant about transitioning to no-till practices might consider doing a test and hiring someone to do the no-till planting. The Uplands Watershed Group has a no-till drill available to rent at an economical cost, said Daniel Smith, southwest regional specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Nutrient and Pest-Management Program.
Wisconsin pork farmers are invited to join University of Wisconsin-Extension, the Wisconsin Pork Association, and the UW-Agriculture Colleges (Madison, Platteville, and River Falls) for the Badger Swine Symposium on Friday, November 9, 2018. The Badger Swine Symposium is being hosted at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station.
The curriculum is developed at University of Wisconsin-Extension and delivered in partnership with more than 50 host organizations like nature centers. It’s customized to explore natural history, flora and fauna. Courses in southern Wisconsin may focus on prairie habitats, while those in the northern part of the state may spend more time learning about different types of forests.
