Customer demand for high-quality, unique specialty food products is growing rapidly. Many farmers are interested in processing specialty foods from the fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products and grains they are already producing. Successful specialty food enterprises, however, require careful financial planning. CIAS has developed a spreadsheet to help farmers make financial and management decisions about new [...] [...more]
Low commodity prices have inspired farmers to look at alternative enterprises, like sheep dairies, to increase their farm incomes. With careful financial planning and management, sheep dairies can make money for farmers. CIAS has developed a spreadsheet to help farmers make financial and management decisions about new or existing dairy sheep enterprises. It is applicable to [...] [...more]
CIAS has developed a spreadsheet to help farmers make financial and management decisions about new or existing dairy goat enterprises. It is applicable to most kinds and sizes of enterprises. This budget was developed using Microsoft Excel 2000. If you are running a much earlier version of Excel and can not open this file, please contact [...] [...more]
Enterprises like pastured poultry can add to farm income with careful financial planning. CIAS has developed a spreadsheet to help farmers make financial and management decisions about new or existing poutry enterprises. While the budget was developed for a CIAS pastured poultry project, it is applicable to most kinds and sizes of poultry enterprises. This budget [...] [...more]
Learn how to extend your marketing season by growing and selling winter storage crops like carrots, beets, winter squash, cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic and more. This workshop will be held on December 4 in Hudson and December 11 in Madison. For details, see the workshop flyer. Hope to see you there!
(What is RSS?)On Thursday, November 12, CIAS hosted its annual meeting of apple growers engaged in its Eco-Apple pesticide reduction program. Notably, the group of 48 growers celebrated the successful completion of a six-year effort designed to reduce the use of pesticides on orchards throughout Wisconsin. During the course of the program, all reporting orchards demonstrated a reduced reliance on pesticides in favor of a diversity of IPM strategies, and some realized a near-total elimination of organophosphate applications. CIAS thanks its team of growers for their enthusiastic and committed participation. In particular, CIAS wishes to thank Dave Flannery, Wendy Schafer, Bill Stone and Anna Maenner for their fortitude in seeing this phase of the project through to a successful conclusion. UW rsearchers Dan Mahr, Patty McManus, Matt Stasiak and Teryl Roper have been critical to the project’s success. Thanks also to EPA-V and the USDA for their support and encouragement.
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