Agriculture and Natural Resources (AN

RE)PART O

F COO

PERATIVE EXTENSIO

N, UW

-EXTENSIO

N

Unbiased

Research

Education

ExpertiseDiverse N

eeds

High-techW

ith aHum

an Touch

Agriculture and Natural Resources

PART OF CO

OPERATIVE EXTEN

SION

, UW-EXTEN

SION

To learn more, contact:

Your local county agriculture agent or

Dave William

s, Assistant Program Leader

635 Extension Building

432 N. Lake Street

Madison, W

I 53706

608-262-9309

david.william

s@ces.uw

ex.edu

ww

w.uwex.edu/ces/ag

An EEO/AA em

ployer, the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Cooperative

Extension provides equal opportunities in employm

ent and programm

ing,including Title IX and Am

ericans with Disabilities (ADA) requirements.

When corn growers plagued

with crop losses caused byhungry sandhill cranes cam

e toExtension for help, Extensionresponded by partnering withthe International CraneFoundation and others toconduct research onenvironm

entally friendly seedtreatm

ents that would repel cranes.

When dairy farm

ers want tom

odernize, they look toExtension for advice. “I sold m

y combine for

$35,000 which I used 5 daysa year and built the swing-10 parlor which I use twicea day 365 days a year. W

enow m

ilk the same num

berof cow

s in half the time,”

says Karen Reisinger ofSauk County.

When Am

ish farmers in

Marquette and

Columbia counties said

they wanted to sellm

ore produce,Extension created awholesale auctionwhich has grown from55 growers with$60,000 in sales to 95 growers and sales of $230,000.

Partnering with Extension…

Creative Solutions

Dodge County Master GardenersLife Sciences Communication, UW-Madison

©2007 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

©2007 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

©2007 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

USDA Keith Weller

USDA Bruce Fritz

USDA Scott BauerDave Williams

3/2007

Wisconsin Department of Tourism

Based in all 72 counties,UW

-Extension agents, oreducators as they’resom

etimes called, serve as

on-site problem-solvers.

They represent the outreacharm

, or branch office, of theUniversity of W

isconsinSystem

. Agriculture andNatural Resources Extension(AN

RE) is one of severalprogram

areas withinCooperative Extension. AN

RE agents work to keepthe state’s $51.5 billionagriculture and horticultureindustry growing andm

oving forward.

Like the hub of a wheel,these individuals connectW

isconsin residents tospokes of resources –University specialists,networks, educationalworkshops, grant dollars, field trials, potential partners, funders,m

arketingexpertise andm

uch more.

Tapping into researchCounty agents also serve asconduits to a vast am

ount ofagricultural research, m

uchof which occurs at 12 University-run agriculturalresearch stations.

Locatedthroughoutthe state,theseoutdoorlaboratoriesallowscientistsandstudents totailorprojects –designed toaddress real-world issues –to W

isconsin’s varied soil,vegetation, wildlife and clim

ate.

High-tech with

a human touch

We offer W

isconsin citizensm

any ways to plug into thisim

pressive research base.For exam

ple, we delivereducation on hot topics –such as responding toincreased m

anureregulation, tapping intorising dem

and for organicm

eat or just organizingfarm

ers’ markets – through

publications, workshops,radio and TV broadcasts,web sites, on-line coursesand satellite conferences. At the sam

e time, we

strive to put a human

face on learning, throughone-on-one consultations,farm

visits and classroom

interaction.

Responding to hot-button issues“Extension Responds” is anotherbenefit of Agriculture and NaturalResources program

ming. This web-

based service (uwex.edu/ces/ag/issues)provides inform

ation on current farm

issues.

For example, widespread drought in

2006 prompted specialists to post tips

on feeding drought-stressed corn tocattle, a spreadsheet to estim

ate winterhay needs, a fact sheet on haym

arketing and much m

ore. Bovinetuberculosis in a M

innesota cattle herdspurred a UW

-Extension beef cattlespecialist to offer on-line advice ondisease control and m

andatory healthperm

its. Other on-line topics address

dairy herd health, mad cow disease,

biosecurity, soybean rust and Hurricane Katrina’s afterm

ath.

Meeting diverse needs

To meet the needs of the ever-changing

agriculture and horticulture industry,county agents and University cam

pus-based researchers work in team

s formed

around the following areas:•

dairy•

fruit crops•

emerging agricultural m

arkets•

grains•

farm and risk m

anagement

•land use and agriculture

•food industry research, service and training

•livestock

•forage

•nutrient m

anagement

•fresh m

arket and comm

ercial vegetable crops

•horticulture

•bioenergy

Teams draw

on local expertiseThe team

s work in cooperationwith our partners to addressagricultural and horticulturalissues. W

e draw on theknowledge and expertise of localdecision m

akers, including:•

county board mem

bers•

state legislators and agencies•

business owners•

homeowners

•agricultural organizations, cooperatives and com

modity groups

•universities and technical colleges

•environm

ental groups

Advice you can trustLooking for creative solutions to challenging issues, farm

ers, sandhill cranelovers, Am

ish vegetable growers and urban gardeners turn to the sam

esource: their local UW

-Extension agent.

When Juneau County hom

eowners expressed a desire to learnm

ore about horticulture, Extension beefed up local Master

Gardener training, creating a new crop of Master Gardeners

who organized their own association, built a web site and volunteered m

ore than 1,400 hours of comm

unity service.

When dairy farm

ers had troublecom

municating with a m

ostly Spanish-speaking workforce, Extension developed atraining course, in Spanish and English,that included pictures, DVDs and writtenm

aterials, to teach Hispanic workers thefiner points of m

ilking, bovine reproduction,calf m

anagement and herdsm

anship.

©2007 Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

UW Extension

UW Extension

USDA Bruce FritzMary Ellen Bell

Jennifer Keuning