CIAS in the community

CIAS Hosts Annual Meeting of Eco-Apple Growers

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CIAS Turns 20!

CIAS Turns 20!

On September 22, CIAS celebrated its 20th anniversary with cake and camaraderie. Past directors, faculty associates and members of our Citizens Advisory Council spoke of the history and continued importance of CIAS research and outreach on sustainable agriculture. Many thanks to everyone who joined us for this event. View a slideshow of photos from our [...] [...more]

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Organic Field Day at Arlington

CIAS staff members participated in the third Organic Field Day at the Arlington Agricultural Research Station on August 26th. Field tours focused on organic grain, hay and vegetable production. Managed grazing of beef and dairy cattle was featured prominently in a tent session on organic livestock management. 75 participants attended this event. Many thanks to [...] [...more]

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Ride to Farm

Ride to Farm

From June 12-14, a group of fearless riders braved the wind and hills of southern Wisconsin to raise money for, and awareness of, the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers. The 2009 Ride to Farm covered about 200 miles. Ride stops included the farm of SBDF graduate Kyle Tews in Orfordville and Uplands [...] [...more]

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Forgotten Fruits Summit

Dr. Gary Nabhan and the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) alliance recently convened the national Forgotten Fruits Summit, which was held at the UW-Madison Arboretum on March 19th, 2009. Apple growers, historians, authors and advocates came together to talk about threatened apple varieties and discuss strategies for restoring apples in the landscape. The event concluded [...] [...more]

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Grazing and Organic Farming Conferences

Grazing and Organic Farming Conferences

CIAS participated in the Wisconsin Grazing Conference and the Organic Farming Conference this February. At the Wisconsin Grazing Conference, Altfrid Krusenbaum gave a presentation on 20 years of grazing work at CIAS in honor of our anniversary. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at these conferences. [...more]

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Wisconsin Farmers Union Convention

Three hundred farmers converged on Wisconsin Rapids for the 78th annual Wisconsin Farmers Union convention, and CIAS was there. Dick Cates, who leads the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, participated on a panel discussing Wisconsin’s working lands. Convention resolutions that passed included strong support for CIAS and its [...] [...more]

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Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers

Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers

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]

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How do we get more local produce in the marketplace?

How do we get more local produce in the marketplace?

On December 8th, CIAS co-hosted a meeting for 50 public and private sector leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of fresh produce aggregation and distribution in Wisconsin. This meeting was supported in part by the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, a UW-Madison based fund designed to foster public engagement and advance the Wisconsin Idea. The [...] [...more]

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Baldwin Local/Regional Food Distribution Project

Baldwin Local/Regional Food Distribution Project

Launched in January 2008, the Baldwin Local/Regional Food Distribution Project aims to develop a regional distribution system that can provide many different kinds of Wisconsin farmers with the means to deliver their products to high-volume markets. During the spring of 2008, we began a series of interviews with a dozen mid-scale growers and distributors as [...] [...more]

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Vegetable Storage Crops Workshop

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!

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CIAS in the community

CIAS Hosts Annual Meeting of Eco-Apple Growers

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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