MID-WEST FARM REPORT - MADISON

George Tipler shares the story of his family’s land in Winnebago County. He's accepting the Sesquicentennial Farm and Home Award this year for his 21-acre parcel in the town of Clayton. He shares fond memories of farming with his father and grandfather and the stories of hauling cattle back when vehicles couldn't go more than 50 miles per hour. The Sesquicentennial program is in its 25th year. The...

Lori Mesik Hamilton's great grandparents, immigrants of the Austria-Hungarian Empire, moved from Colorado to Ashland County after her great-grandmother was struck with tuberculosis. They thought the crisp air would do her good. Lori says crisp was an understatement -- when she was farming as a girl on the Century Farm, she remembers using a crowbar to pick the ice off the barn door to milk cows. T...

In every corner of Wisconsin, you can probably find a family farm with a legacy that goes back 100 or 150 years. We’re sharing the stories of those Century and Sesquicentennial Farms thanks to Compeer Financial. One of the 100-year-old farms being recognized this year belongs to Joe Kirschbaum of Bloomington in Grant County. That’s where his family milked cows until the late 80s and the 160-acre f...

Wisconsin agriculture can always surprise you!  That might be the feeling you get when you hear the story of Trembling Prairie Farm in Markesan. John Bobek, Farmer and Owner, Trembling Prairie Farms, is an Indiana native that farms the tricky soils of his Markesan farm.  It's rich in nutrients, but fickle when it comes to crops it favors.  So when the opportunity to grow celery in partnership with...

Any family that includes a member that's got some health or mental disabilities faces challenges in finding services that can help them manage through "life". Pam Jahnke visits with Sally Flaschberger, Project Manager-Living Well, Co-Leader Partners in Policymaking with the WI Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.  Wisconsin's BPDD has assembled a toolkit to try and help families uncov...

The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA) announced today it is launching a Health & Safety Group, designed to help WCMA members across the country protect their most valuable resource: their workforce.  WCMA Senior Director of Programs & Policy Rebekah Sweeney, talks with Pam Jahnke about why cheesemakers across the state are excited to engage in this discussion. The first meeting of...

With fuel prices getting a lot of consumer attention, Pam Jahnke visits with Roland Koenig of Marquis Ethanol in Necedah about how that industry responded.  Koenig says that ethanol margins have been good, and they're contributing to bringing fuel prices down. Consumers may think that chicken is always a "deal" at the grocery store - but that may not be the case today.  Stephanie Hoff talks with D...

The Wisconsin Honey Queen is out and about educating consumers about the value of bees and what's at risk if habitat isn't maintained.  Jill Welke talks to WI Honey Queen Shannon Lamb. Ashley Huhn with the Steffes Group joins Pam Jahnke to talk details about holding an auction.  Ashley says auctions are usually a once in a lifetime experience, so you need trusted professionals to help.  Sponsored...

Heat's building again this week and that's a problem for Wisconsin's dairy cows.  Stephanie Hoff visits with UW-Extension Animal Safety Specialist, Jennifer VanOss about what's at risk if farms don't address and protect against heat. Ashley Schumacher from Alcivia Cooperative is Pam Jahnke's guest on the Alcivia Coop Talk show.  She focuses in on Alcivia's community support of county fair youth, l...

Farmers and gardeners may look forward to summer storms for some valuable rainfall, but their pets may not be as enthusiastic. Dr. Maria Verbrugge, clinical instructor of primary care at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, tries to help pet parents calm their partners during noisy summer weather events.  Verbrugge talks with Pam Jahnke about steps that pet owners can take to...

There's been a lot of attention to fluctuations at the pump for fuel prices, but much less attention focused on Wisconsin's ethanol industry and how it's working to try and flatten that volatility. Roland Koenig is the Commodity Manager for Marquis Energy in Necedah.  He talks with Pam Jahnke about the multitude of byproducts produced in an ethanol plant and how it helps offset the wild fluctuatio...

Interest is already high for participation in the 2022 WI Sheep & Wool Festival, Sept. 9-11 at Jefferson County Fair Park in Jefferson. Pam Jahnke visits with festival veteran, Bob Black of Columbus, about the shows humble beginnings, and how things like fiber art have transformed some of the show.  In 2022, Black says there's more than 50 pages of educational offerings for attendees to enjoy....

Kids and animals.  Put the two together and there can be magic. That's just the magic that's been created in classrooms across Wisconsin, and across the country, through the Adopt A Cow program.  Spearheaded in part by Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, the campaign allows school aged kids to follow a baby dairy calf from essentially birth, through its first year of life on the farm. Karen Doster with Da...

The phrase, 'you can't win if you don't enter' should be playing loudly in the minds of Wisconsin soybean growers today. Dr. Shawn Conley, UW-Extension Soybean Specialist , visits with Pam Jahnke about the 2022 Wisconsin Soybean Yield Contest.  The contest allows soybean growers from across the state a chance at cash prizes and recognition.  Conley stresses that he's tried to create a contest that...

Now is the time when Wisconsin farmers are confronted with their mistakes.  Crooked rows in a field, fertilizer shortages in spots, overlaps on spraying.  Now they're seeing it all in the crops that have been established. Now's when they're also seeing how well (or not) their herbicide regiment has done going up against waterhemp.  Dr. Rodrigo Werle, UW-Extension Weed Scientist , visits with Pam J...

Despite a slow start to spring planting this year, Wisconsin's soybean crop seems to be making up for some lost time. Dr. Shawn Conely, UW-Extension Soybean Specialist, talks with Pam Jahnke on this SoyPod Update, about crop progress and what he's watching closely. Conley also updates growers on the 2022 UW Arlington Agronomy & Soils Field Day, Wed., August 31st.  This year presentations will...

In a fairly short period of time, Wisconsin's hemp industry has gone from feverish interest, to a more targeted approach at not only growing, but marketing the product. Carl Duley, UW-Extension Agent in Buffalo County, was one of the first that jumped in on the hemp conversation in the state - prompted in part by progressive farmers in his area. Today Duley says marketing of hemp has changed.  The...

Amber Radatz, Agricultural Water Quality Program Manager, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, can tell you how valuable partnering with Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin has been to the Wisconsin Discovery Farms program. Radatz tells Pam Jahnke about the colaboration between the two groups to find forward thinking dairy operators interested in bringing research projects to their farms....

Wisconsin Bankers Association President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels joins Mid-West Farm Report for an update on today's interest rates and the appetite for agricultural loans. She says interest rates are projected to continue climbing for the sake of reducing inflation -- but notes it's anybody's guess if it's working. Home prices are still high, but the 5.25 percent interest rate for 30-year mortga...

Many colleges saw a lull in enrollment through the pandemic years, and the UW-Platteville School of Ag was no exception. However, the school is anticipating an increased number of incoming freshmen this fall.  Charles Steiner is the Interim Dean of BILSA at UW-Platteville. He shares more about enrollment trends and highlights some popular program areas within the School of Ag.  See omnystudio.com/...

With help from a grant, three farmers are working to improve the habitat in the Rat River Watershed. Winnebago County Land and Water Conservation Department in partnership with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance earned a $200,000 grant from the Great Lakes Commission to reduce sediment and phosphorus pollution that enters the Winnebago System. County watershed coordinator and dairy kid Emily Dufeck share...

John Gaska, research support for Shawn Conley, discusses how spring planting went around Wisconsin and what to watch for in the fields related to white mold and soybean aphids. Paid for by the WI Soybean Marketing Board. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Styer of Menomonie is the past state FFA president who's also going to be the state's national officer candidate this fall.  Bob Bosold talks to him about a recent trip he made to Europe as a member of a dairy judging team that pushed pause during the pandemic. The Wisconsin Infant Study Cohort is investigating what health benefits kids might receive by playing on the farm.  Through soil micro...

Wisconsin is the only state that has a Master Meat Crafter Training program.  Stephanie Hoff found an interesting story with one Master Meat Crafter at Jones Dairy in Jefferson.  Shaun Edwards never expected to be in the meat processing industry, but he uses his Master Meat Crafter Training every day. WI Senator Tammy Baldwin has introduced a bill that would require more oversight from USDA on lan...

Bucking bulls are hard-working athletes in the animal world, and with that comes some special attention and care.  Cory Check is the owner and operator of CC Bucking Bulls out of Gays Mills. He shares more about how they care for the bulls, especially in the heart of their busy season during the summer months. He also explains what it looks like to select bulls that will move on to the rodeo circu...