Cyclists will begin in Birch Lake Park in Barneveld, ride through the Driftless Region to Spring Green for lunch at Culver’s Restaurant and then circle back to Barneveld, enjoying rest stops on farms along the way. Ben Brancel, Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, will send off the riders at 8:30 a.m.

Participants can choose one of two full-day rides—a 55-mile course with 2,130 feet in elevation rise or a 52-mile ride with 1,580 feet in rise. Or they can opt for a half-day, one-way ride, either from Barneveld to Spring Green in the morning or from Spring Green to Barneveld in the afternoon—but will need to arrange for their own ride back to their starting point.

“Over the past 10 years Ride to Farm has become our signature event to raise funds for scholarships and general program activities, and also to raise awareness about the importance of supporting our future farmers,” says WSBDF director Dick Cates. “We’re extremely grateful to all of the people who have ridden with us or pledged support over the past decade.”

Supporters can make pledges for individual riders and teams (or make general contributions) at www.ridetofarm.dojiggy.com. Riders can go to the same site to sign up to ride, solicit donors and track pledges.

Participants are welcome to ride as individuals or in teams, but each rider must raise at least $75. Teams that collect the highest pledge amounts will be awarded traveling trophies. Prizes for top individual fundraisers include a Trek road bike, a voucher for 52 free Organic Valley products in a year, two tickets to American Players Theater and a Ride to Farm jersey.

The ride includes rest breaks on two farms, where participants can sample locally produced cheese, milk and other treats provided by farm families and the River Valley FFA. The morning stop is north of Dodgeville at Grass Dairy, the farm of the Gingrich and Patenaude families and home of Uplands Cheese, where several WSBDF graduates have served as interns and started their farming career. In the afternoon, riders will stop south of Spring Green at the Cates Family Farm, owned and operated by Dick and Kim Cates. The ride will culminate at Birch Lake Park with beverages and an award ceremony at 3 p.m. followed by a potluck picnic.

WSBDF provides aspiring farmers with classroom instruction, on-farm internships, and business planning and mentoring opportunities, with an emphasis on managed grazing. Students attend class at the UW-Madison, or participate from classrooms around the state through a combination of local instruction and video links to the Madison classroom. The program is a partnership between the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems and the Farm and Industry Short Course, both programs of the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Instructors include UW-Madison faculty, graduates of the program, mentor farmers, farm lenders and other agribusiness professionals. For more information, visit www.cias.wisc.edu/dairysch.html.

WSBDF thanks its Ride to Farm sponsors: Culver’s for coupons and promotional development; Organic Valley for fresh cheese and milk from their farms; Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board for ride t-shirts; and Budget Bicycles for additional prizes; also Badgerland Financial, American Transmission Co., Faith Technologies, Family Dairies USA, We Energies, Wisconsin Cattlemen’s Association, and the Wisconsin Farmers Union for their continued generous support of the WSBDF and Ride to Farm.

Weston Sustainability Roundtable
Matthew D. Ruark
Assistant Professor, Soil Science Extension
UW-Madison

1106 Mechanical Engineering
1513 University Avenue

The effects of agricultural management practices on crops and soil are not always immediately seen. Thus, there is tremendous value in maintaining long-term cropping trials to evaluate these medium- to long-term effects. Dr. Ruark’s presentation will focus on the long-term cropping system trials at the University of Wisconsin and how they have been, are being, or can be used to answer pressing questions facing agriculture, with a specific emphasis on soil carbon, nitrogen availability, and sustainable crop production.

In 2003, Shepherd’s Grain sold its first batch of specially blended baking flour to Hot Lips Pizza, a small restaurant chain in Portland, Oregon. This initial sale was the culmination of more than three decades of wheat production experience and a healthy dose of creative thinking.

Shepherd’s Grain case study (PDF)
Shepherd’s Grain Research Brief (PDF)

These publications are part of a series of case studies and Research Briefs examining values-based food supply chains—strategic business alliances formed between primarily midsize farms/ranches and their supply chain partners. Values-based food supply chains distribute significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products and share the rewards equitably. Farmers and ranchers function as strategic partners rather than easily replaced input suppliers. All participants in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration and mutual support.

Beyond providing economic stability to its members, Organic Valley seeks to achieve ambitious goals regarding ecological and economic sustainability, diversity, energy conservation, food quality and advancement of cooperative principles.

Organic Valley case study (PDF)
Organic Valley Research Brief (PDF)

These publications are part of a series of case studies and Research Briefs examining values-based food supply chains—strategic business alliances formed between primarily midsize farms/ranches and their supply chain partners. Values-based food supply chains distribute significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products and share the rewards equitably. Farmers and ranchers function as strategic partners rather than easily replaced input suppliers. All participants in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration and mutual support.

Co-op Partners Warehouse case study (PDF)
Co-op Partners Warehouse Research Brief (PDF)

These publications are part of a series of case studies and Research Briefs examining values-based food supply chains—strategic business alliances formed between primarily midsize farms/ranches and their supply chain partners. Values-based food supply chains distribute significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products and share the rewards equitably. Farmers and ranchers function as strategic partners rather than easily replaced input suppliers. All participants in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration and mutual support.

Farmer members each have a page on Idaho’s Bounty website where they share their stories, offer products for sale and set their own prices. Customer members place orders online. Sales agreements are between sellers and buyers. Idaho’s Bounty never owns any product but charges a 35 percent mark-up for maintaining the infrastructure for this direct marketing system. The co-op manages the weekly collection and delivery of products to designated pick-up sites in the three regions.

Idaho’s Bounty case study (PDF)
Idaho’s Bounty Research Brief (PDF)

These publications are part of a series of case studies and Research Briefs examining values-based food supply chains—strategic business alliances formed between primarily midsize farms/ranches and their supply chain partners. Values-based food supply chains distribute significant volumes of high-quality, differentiated food products and share the rewards equitably. Farmers and ranchers function as strategic partners rather than easily replaced input suppliers. All participants in these business alliances recognize that creating maximum value for the product depends on significant interdependence, collaboration and mutual support.

Wisconsin Grazing Activities Resource List (PDF)

Slow Money Wisconsin and LION (Local Investment Opportunities Network) will host the 2013 Business and Investor Showcase featuring local food and fiber businesses on Friday, April 26 at the Lussier Family Heritage Center, 3101 Lake Farm Road in Madison.

Tickets to the Showcase include a locally sourced breakfast and lunch, and are $30 for general public and $15 for students at http://tinyurl.com/slowshowcase or (888) 406-7969.

Hosted by Tera Johnson, founder of Tera’s Whey, Jim Gage, president of Town and Country Resource Conservation and Development, and Rebecca Ryan, director of Next Generation Consulting, the event is designed to spark conversations and connections among sustainable food and farming entrepreneurs, investors, intermediaries, food activists and members of the public who are interested in supporting the local food system.

Join Showcase presenters, nurture capitalists, investment advisors and university students for pre-event networking reception on Thursday, April 25 from 5:30-8:00 p.m. at Brocach Irish Pub, 7 West Main Street, Capitol Square, Madison. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students.

For more information, visit the Slow Money Wisconsin website.

108 Plant Sciences, UW-Madison

Speaker: Professor William Tracy, Department of Agronomy
This presentation is part of the Agronomy Colloquium