Tag Agriculture
UW-Madison launches national Agricultural Innovation Prize
As the world's population continues to increase, so does the need for sustainable and secure food systems. A new student contest run by the University of Wisconsin–Madison advances the idea that long-term solutions in agriculture cannot draw on innovations from only one discipline. Read More
Weekly farmers’ market launches at Union South
Area vendors will sell local and organic products during a weekly Campus Farmers’ Market on the north lawn of Union South, across Johnson Street from the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Read More
Grant funds free nationwide access to Dairyland Initiative for farmers
The Dairyland Initiative, a UW School of Veterinary Medicine outreach program that works with farmers to optimize cow comfort, health, and milk production, has received a $50,000 grant from the Dean Foods Foundation to make its Web-based resources available at no cost to dairy farmers across the country. Read More
Protecting our Pollinators
Bees, so crucial to our food supply, are dying off at alarming rates. CALS researchers are taking a close look at everything from the microbes in their hives to the landscapes they live in to identify in what conditions bees thrive. Read More
Diamond catalyst shows promise in breaching age-old barrier
In the world, there are a lot of small molecules people would like to get rid of, or at least convert to something useful, according to University of Wisconsin–Madison chemist Robert J. Hamers. Read More
Industry helps create new potato breeding professorship
Advances in biotechnology such as DNA sequencing have helped speed the pace of plant breeding in many food crops, but applying these tools to the potato, which has an extra set of chromosomes, has been a bit more difficult. Read More
Ride to Farm to support beginning dairy and livestock farmers
The Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers is recruiting cyclists and pledges for its 10th annual Ride to Farm fundraiser on Saturday, June 1 to support the next generation of Wisconsin farmers. Read More
New project will adapt dairying to climate change
Agricultural scientists from across the nation are embarking on a new five-year, $10 million, USDA-funded effort to identify dairy production practices that minimize the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and will be more resilient to the effects of a changing climate. Read More
UW–Madison will dedicate refurbished Dairy Cattle Center March 9
The public is invited to help welcome the cows back to campus as the University of Wisconsin–Madison dedicates its refurbished Dairy Cattle Center on Saturday, March 9. Read More
Value of modified corn is more in reducing losses than boosting yields
While there's no end of robust and heated conversation about genetically modified foods, there are strikingly few comprehensive studies that put a numeric value on the costs and benefits. Read More
Isotopic Data Show Farming Arrived in Europe with Migrants
For decades, archaeologists have debated how farming spread to Stone Age Europe, setting the stage for the rise of Western civilization. Now, new data gleaned from the teeth of prehistoric farmers and the hunter-gatherers with whom they briefly overlapped shows that agriculture was introduced to Central Europe from the Near East by colonizers who brought farming technology with them. Read More
Despite drought, heat and higher costs, state farm income was second highest ever
Despite the challenges brought on by prolonged drought and record-breaking heat, Wisconsin farmers earned $3 billion in net farm income in 2012, the second highest amount on record. Read More
Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum takes place Jan. 23
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 sixth annual Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum in Madison on Jan. 23. Read More
UW-led project will help growers and processors show sustainable production
UW-Madison researchers are leading a new $2.1 million, USDA-funded project designed to help vegetable producers and processors get rewarded in the marketplace for producing their products in a sustainable manner. Read More
‘Class-grass’ concerts celebrate the culture of agriculture
The University of Wisconsin–Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) is cosponsoring a pair of concerts celebrating the culture of agriculture. Read More
UW plant breeders develop an even heart-healthier oat
University of Wisconsin–Madison plant breeders have developed a new oat variety that's significantly higher in the compound that makes this grain so cardio-friendly. Read More
Wisconsin farm income set a record last year, but high grain prices cut into dairy profits
Agriculture continued to be a bright spot in Wisconsin's economy in 2011. Read More
Researchers outline food security, climate change road map
While last month's meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa, made incremental progress toward helping farmers adapt to climate change and reduce agriculture's climate footprint, a group of international agriculture experts urges scientists to lay the groundwork for more decisive action on global food security in environmental negotiations in 2012. Read More