Tag College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
UW-Madison’s first enologist will aid wine and cider industry in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is known for fermentation, like its cheese, craft beer and pickles. But it's also been working to add even more to that blossoming list: wine and cider. The Badger State's 110 wineries and commercial cider makers now have a new resource to help them compete: Nick Smith. Read More
UW–Madison researcher wins Governor’s Business Plan Contest
Katie Brenner, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and her team of co-founders won the 2015 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest in Madison Wednesday for an app-based device to help women monitor their fertility. Read More
Tolerance of wolves in Wisconsin continues to decline
Wolf. The very word can conjure an image of a venerable pack of canines passing quietly through moonlit woods. Or, it can evoke anger over livestock lost at the jaws of a hungry predator. Read More
Pasture partnership supports organic dairy farmers across Wisconsin
In an effort to help improve the health of pastures owned by dairy farmers across Wisconsin and beyond, University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have established a partnership with Organic Valley, the nation's largest organic farming cooperative, to study how to make pastures as productive, nutritious and sustainable as possible. Read More
Students provide feedback and lessons learned for campus master plan
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a campus full of memorable spaces, from Library Mall to the Memorial Union Terrace, from Picnic Point to the lush green rise of Bascom Hill. Each evokes a sense of place — an intimate and profound connection— that draws us to them and gives them meaning. Read More
Engineered softwood could transform pulp, paper and biofuel industries
Scientists have demonstrated the potential for softwoods to process more easily into pulp and paper if engineered to incorporate a key feature of hardwoods. The finding, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve the economics of the pulp, paper and biofuels industries and reduce those industries' environmental impact. Read More
Two receive awards for research to benefit children
Two University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers have received three-year Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards to support research into fungal disease and therapy for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Read More
For soybean growers, hidden cost of climate change tops $11 billion
Even during a good year, soybean farmers nationwide are, in essence, taking a loss. That's because changes in weather patterns have been eating into their profits and taking quite a bite: $11 billion over the past 20 years. Read More
Munching bugs thwart eager trees, reducing the carbon sink
A new study published today [Monday, March 2, 2015] in Nature Plants shows that hungry, plant-eating insects may limit the ability of forests to take up elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reducing their capacity to slow human-driven climate change. Read More
Could squirmy livestock dent Africa’s protein deficit?
As a cheap and easy source of protein for humans, it might be hard to beat the mighty mealworm. Read More
Slideshow: Learning lessons by following Madison’s foxes and coyotes
Last year, a family of foxes — complete with roly-poly kits — took up residence on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and made the city its playground. With winter in full swing, the foxes and their larger dog-like counterparts, coyotes, are out there again, roaming the wilder (and often not so wild) parts of the city and campus. This year, David Drake, a UW–Madison associate professor of forest and wildlife ecology, is welcoming the public to join him and his research team as they go out and radio collar the animals in an effort to track and better understand these urban canids. Read More
Learning lessons by following Madison’s foxes and coyotes
Last year, a family of foxes — complete with roly-poly kits — took up residence on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus and made the city its playground. With winter in full swing, the foxes and their larger dog-like counterparts, coyotes, are out there again, roaming the wilder (and often not so wild) parts of the city and campus. This year, David Drake, a UW–Madison associate professor of forest and wildlife ecology, is welcoming the public to join him and his research team as they go out and radio collar the animals in an effort to track and better understand these urban canids. Read More
UW experts forecasting 2015 Wisconsin agriculture trends
In 2014, the total net farm income in Wisconsin reached an all-time high of more than $4 billion, but agricultural experts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are predicting some changes in 2015. Bruce Jones, a professor of agricultural and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, will be among a handful of UW–Madison and UW-Extension experts to recap the status of Wisconsin’s agricultural enterprise in 2014 and discuss trends developing for 2015 at the Wisconsin Agricultural Economic Outlook Forum on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Read More
Deer account for almost half of long-term forest change, study finds
A study released this week has linked at least 40 percent of species changes in the forests of northern Wisconsin and Michigan over the past 60 years to the eating habits of white-tailed deer. Read More
Pecatonica without the ‘P’: Project cuts phosphorus levels in river
Conservation experts and farmers alike are rather pleased with the news out of southwestern Wisconsin. A seven-year pilot project in the 12,000-acre Pleasant Valley subwatershed of the Pecatonica River has helped to reduce the amount of phosphorus and sediment entering the river after major storms by more than a third. Read More
Muddy forests, shorter winters present challenges for loggers
Stable, frozen ground has long been recognized a logger’s friend, capable of supporting equipment and trucks in marshy or soggy forests. Now, a comprehensive look at weather from 1948 onward shows that the logger’s friend is melting. The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of Environmental Management, finds that the period of frozen ground has declined by an average of two or three weeks since 1948. Read More
‘Amazing Race,’ amazing comeback
It wasn't just an "Amazing Race" for Amy DeJong and Maya Warren. It was an amazing victory -- and an amazing comeback. Read More
Neal First, whose work led to cattle cloning, dies at 84
Emeritus Professor Neal First, a pioneer in cattle reproduction and cloning who studied animal physiology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for 45 years, died Nov. 20 from complications of cancer. Read More