MID-WEST FARM REPORT - MADISON

The Dairyland Initiative is inviting all who are involved in the dairy industry -- from builders to vets to farmers -- to its upcoming virtual workshops. Attend one or both workshops titled Positive Pressure Tube Ventilation Design on Sept. 15 or Automated Milking Systems Facility Design on Sept. 16. Courtney Halbach of the School of Veterinary Medicine at UW-Madison explains why you should attend...

It's not just the time of year to harvest crops -- trap lines are out! Pam Jahnke talks with Shawn Rossler, a furbearer ecologist with the Wisconsin DNR. UW-Extension specialist Amaya Atucha tells grape growers the ins and outs of fertilizing and spraying herbicide. Delores Fortuna of Rusk County shares the unique story of her family's hard journey to northern Wisconsin and the unique stone work o...

The federal reserve is holding its benchmark interest rates for this year. Craig O'Leary, the executive vice president of the Bank of Broadhead, says he sees this as a positive for farmers.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, Friends of the Wisconsin Wolf and Wildlife, and Project Coyote sued the state over its authorization of a 300-wolf quota for the November wolf hunt. But Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Director of Government Relations Tyler Wenzlaff says depredation money is funded by wolf hunts. About three dozen claims have been made so far thi...

Delores Fortuna is the third generation on her family's Centennial farm in Rusk County. In 1919, her grandfather, a Polish immigrant, traveled from a collapsed mine in Pennsylvania to northern Wisconsin and purchased the farm -- without looking at the full acreage. Delores calls the property a hardship farm with sandy soil and difficult terrain for raising crops and a dairy herd. While she and her...

Agriculture in Alaska is quite a bit different than here in Wisconsin.  Bob Bosold just recently returned from a farm tour to Alaska and had the chance to learn about different aspects of agriculture in the frozen tundra.  Bryce Wrigley and his family own and operate Alaska Flour Company, growing food grade barley.  He shares what it takes to grow the crop in the state. When you thi...

It's not a crop that gets a lot of attention, but it's a crop that plenty of consumers enjoy!  Popcorn!  Michelle Stangler talks to Randy Tietz of Tietz Farm Market in Watertown about how they found the crop and what many consumers don't know about how it's raised, processed and enjoyed. School's almost in session in Wisconsin and many school districts are putting a lot of focus on buyin...

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison recently produced a report about lakeshore property owners’ attitudes toward aquatic invasive species management strategies. The report, which summarizes the results of a survey taken by over 700 individuals identified as owning property on a lake in Wisconsin, includes numerous insights that can help lakeshore property owners and lake...

Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association Football Fire-Up Tailgate Party and Silent Auction plans are coming together for the 45th annual event. All money raised supports scholarships for deserving students in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, says Rick Daluge, a former CALS assistant dean and former director of the Farm and Industry Short Course program. Daluge and...

UW-Extension fruit specialist and UW-Madison horticulture professor Amaya Atucha can tell you anything you need to know about preparing your raspberries for winter and caring for them year-round. She says those with fall-bearing fruit can wait until after the harvest to prune all of the canes to the surface of the soil without leaving stumps. Those with summer bearing fruit can overwinter their ra...

UW-Extension fruit specialist and UW-Madison horticulture professor Amaya Atucha explains when to harvest grapes and how. First, red grape growers need to watch for veraison — when the grapes start changing from green to red, Atucha says. This is the first indicator that the fruit are starting to ripen and accumulate sugar. When it comes to harvesting the grapes, Atucha says there&rsquo...

An Iowa cattle producer's managing a project that will bring a $325 million federally-inspected beef processing facility to western Iowa.  Chad Tentinger wants smaller, independent cattle producers to have options.  Bob Bosold talks with him. A Tik-Tok video is giving farmers and departments of agriculture fits! The video claims that farmers are getting paid to destroy their crops. ...

Wisconsin milk production shot up 4.6% this July versus last, and it wasn't the only state that saw a sharp increase.  Dr. Mark Stephenson with the Center for Dairy Profitability gives us his take on the numbers. Wisconsin's potato harvest is underway and Beau Hartline, production manager with Alsum potatoes and vegetables in Arena's watching for quality issues.  He explains his concerns...

organisms should be of top focus within management practices.  Zac Freedman, assistant professor in Soil Science at UW-Madison was at the recent Agronomy and Soils Field Day in Arlington, Wisconsin to share some of the important aspects of soil microbes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Field days also can help connect people together and inspire ideas to implement back home on the farm.  Jared Siverling of Siverling Century Farm in Bloomer, Wisconsin was just one of the attendees at the organic field day on Tuesday.  Siverling and his wife operate a 500 acre certified organic crop operation, and shares that attending events like this has helped to find new avenues to e...

Lots of hard work and time goes into providing the state's farmers with information to help be more efficient and profitable.  Doug Reinemann, Associate Dean for Outreach and Extension at UW-Madison says "extension work really starts with listening to people and what they need."  They work hard to find out what things farmers and agriculturists in the state need and then do their best to...

Between football season, school fundraisers and the holidays, the fourth quarter is busy for snack food companies, including Pine River. Marketing director Mary Lindemann says the company is gearing up to secure enough ingredients, packaging, product inventory and workforce to go full throttle after the Labor Day weekend.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wisconsin Agriculture Teacher of the Year is getting ready for a new group of students.  Tari Costello, ag teacher/FFA advisor for the Waupun School District,  says some of the things she used during the pandemic teaching remotely will return to the classroom this year.  Michelle Stangler visits with her. Zac Freedman was a special presenter at the 2021 Agronomy & Soils Field Da...

Twilight meetings are usually about socializing and talking dairy practices.  This time around the Professional Dairy Producers of WI want's elected officials at all levels to join them in the community conversation. Ashley Huhn with Steffes Auction joins us for an update on consignment activity and hay auction action. Daphne Holtermann is a dairy producer from Waterloo that sits on the WI Be...

The Christen family's centennial farm story starts in 1921 in Monticello, Green County. There, Dorothy Christen's in-laws started dairy farming. One hundred years later, the fourth and fifth generation lives on the farm -- now a grain operation headed by Dorothy's son and third-generation, Ken Christen. Interest in farming continues with the youngest showing sheep at the county fair.   ...

Patricia Kelm and her sons, Brian and Mike Kelm, share the microphone to tell the story of the family's 160-acre Centennial farm in Marquette County. The first Kelm generation purchased the property in 1921 and were dairy farmers. The land was farmed with horses until 1959, when the family purchased its first tractor. The dairy farm never changed to a pipeline system -- the farm used milk cans unt...

Mary Kritz's grandparents purchased their farm in 1913 in the hills of the Driftless Region. Electricity did not come to the area until 1946. The 20-cow dairy required hand labor twice daily. After electricity came to the farm, the family "mechanized" the farm and increased head to 25. In 1947, the second generation began dairying. Crops were used to feed the animals. Mary's mother's money came fr...

The Wisconsin Christmas Tree Producers Association just got together for its annual summer convention after canceling the event last year due to the pandemic. Dean Lemky of the WCTPA and field manager at Central Wisconsin Evergreens, says it’s a good time to be a Wisconsin Christmas tree grower.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Organic practices are gaining in popularity among Wisconsin farmers, but there's things that have to be considered before pivoting to those practices.  Bob Bosold talks to Erin Silva, organic educator on the UW-Madison campus. Twilight meetings are happening this week around Wisconsin, hosted by the Prof. Dairy Producers of WI.  They're not just for dairy producers though.  Shelly M...

Strategy to reach the next generation of dairy consumers is more complicated than it seems.  Aaron talks to Molly Pelzer, CEO of the Midwest Dairy Association, on tactics they're employing to target Gen Z buyers. The Pro Farmer Crop tour concluded on Friday with the market paying attention.  Chad Smith visits with agronomists and analysts that were on the tour. Farming for the Future is...