Wisconsin's colleges and universities offer a variety of classes and programs in sustainable agriculture, from practical skills taught at the technical colleges to a graduate degree in Agroecology at UW-Madison. In addition, student groups at a number of colleges offer non-formal opportunities for learning about and promoting sustainable agriculture. [...more]
CIAS held the Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers in Madison on January 16-18. We had a record 65 participants this year! These participants ranged from college age to retirement age. Some were back-to-the-land career changers, while others were current or former farmers wanting to do something different. We had people with several years [...] [...more]
Friends of the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers will be pedaling for pledges when they roll out Friday, June 13 in the 5th Annual Ride to Farm. A group of determined cyclists will make a three-day trip from a farm near Nichols in Outagamie County to a farm at Elkhorn in Walworth County. [...] [...more]
F.H. King Students of Sustainable Agriculture is a student organization working to promote sustainable agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Founded in 1979, F.H. King was named after a UW professor and author of the 1911 book Farmers of Forty Centuries. Professor King was one of the first people to consider the sustainability of [...] [...more]
Participatory research brings professional researchers together with citizen stakeholders to define problems or questions, collect information, and use it to promote change. This publication addresses on-farm participatory research in sustainable agricultural systems, and draws on experiences using this approach for participatory plant breeding research at the UW-Madison. It provides questions to help farmers and researchers [...] [...more]
This worksheet, which is geared toward older elementary school children and their teachers, presents basic information about grazing dairy cows. It presents grazing as a feeding alternative that mimics natural systems, protects erodible land, and saves money for farmers. It answers questions children might have about grazing, such as, “What do pastured cows do in [...] [...more]
The UW-Madison’’s School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers has received its biggest contribution ever—a gift of $50,000 pledged by FCS Financial Services, a farmer-owned financial services cooperative based in Wausau. The gift will support increased programming and initiatives, such as distance education classrooms, internships and mentoring, for this one-of-a-kind program for beginning and transitioning farmers. Program [...] [...more]
CIAS is proud to announce an invaluable resource for high school teachers. Toward a Sustainable Agriculture is a free curriculum that addresses the social, environmental and economic impacts of agriculture. The curriculum provides a critical analysis of agricultural and food systems and helps students understand new concepts through hands-on examples. What is it? The curruculum includes six [...] [...more]
“I must say it was the hardest I’ve ever worked for free, but somehow I really didn’t mind. I knew that the knowledge I gained was priceless.” Those are the words of Mike Tomandl who recently completed a dairy farm internship in New Zealand. He and fellow intern Joe Heimerl went to New Zealand in July [...] [...more]
Learn about grass-based dairying from the comfort of your home with the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers CD set! You can view the Grass-Based Dairy Seminar sessions taught by grass farmers, UW and Extension faculty, and other professionals right on your home computer. This seminar is designed to familiarize you with the principles and practices [...] [...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.
[More posts...]