COW97 Ag News from Brownfield

Wisconsin farmers can sign up for the state’s cover crop rebate program starting Monday. The program uses 800-thousand dollars approved by the Legislature to reimburse farmers five dollars per acre on their 2023 crop insurance premiums for planting cover crops this year.  The funding is first-come first-serve and will cover the first 160-thousand acres of… ... Continue Reading

A Wisconsin dairy farmer is planning to convert manure into diesel and jet fuel. Wisconsin Dairy Alliance member Larry Dufek owns Dairyland Farms east of Green Bay and is a producer for Land O’ Lakes.  The family dairy is working with the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on the nation’s first biogas refinery that would convert manure… ... Continue Reading

Wisconsin’s farmers are continuing to harvest corn and work on fall tillage.  USDA reporters say statewide, 77% of the corn for grain harvest is complete, and the average moisture content is 19%.  As many people would suspect, the southern counties are farther ahead, with 86% of the crop harvested in both the southeastern and southwestern… ... Continue Reading

What started as a group of dairy farmers concerned about the future of dairy research has turned into multiple university research projects.  Dairy farmer Mitch Breunig of Sauk City, Wisconsin chairs the Wisconsin Dairy Innovation Hub Advisory Council, and he says the Dairy Innovation Hub concept started when a group of farmers met at his… ... Continue Reading

Wisconsin’s newly-elected 3rd District Representative says he wants a seat on the House Agriculture Committee.  Republican Derrick Van Orden, who won the open seat vacated by Democrat Ron Kind, told the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram that many of his constituents are either farmers or working with the ag industry.  Van Orden says the expansion of broadband… ... Continue Reading

Last week started warm but ended with a cold weekend as farmers continued getting crops harvested. Greg Bussler at USDA’s National Ag Statistics Service in Madison says many farmers were harvesting corn, applying manure, and working on fall tillage in the early part of the week ending Sunday.  Wisconsin’s corn for grain is now 71%… ... Continue Reading

The federal government has awarded additional dollars to the Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives grant program.  The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture and Rural Development announced the new $22.9 million in awards to support dairy businesses and producers last week.  Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin authored the bill creating the program in 2018, and as subcommittee chair,… ... Continue Reading

The USDA has increased projections for the 2022 U.S. corn and soybean crops. As of November 1st, corn production is estimated at 13.93 billion bushels, with an average yield of 172.3 bushels per acre, both a bit higher than in October. Harvested area is seen at 80.844 million acres. Soybeans are pegged at 4.346 billion… ... Continue Reading

Another unseasonably warm week allowed Wisconsin’s farmers to accomplish a lot of fieldwork, but the weekend rains slowed down the corn harvest. As of Sunday, Wisconsin’s average topsoil moisture is 76% adequate and 6% surplus, with only 16% of the land short on moisture.  Subsoil moistures are similar. The corn for grain harvest in Wisconsin… ... Continue Reading

An agronomist says farmers might need to scout fields again for standability issues if they’ve received recent rains.  Bob Berkovich with Pioneer in Wisconsin says much of his state received between two and three inches of rain over the weekend, and that might not have helped corn with weakening stalks. “It kind of soaks into… ... Continue Reading

Two more Wisconsin backyard flocks have been diagnosed with highly pathogenic avian influenza. Kevin Hoffman with the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection says 15 chickens, ducks, geese, and guinea hens in Marathon County and 8 chickens and ducks in Waukesha County have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. So far,… ... Continue Reading

A northern Wisconsin farmer is very pleased with this year’s soybean crop, but it’s too soon to evaluate his corn.  Ben Augustine farms near Sheldon. He tells Brownfield, “Beans up in my area did fairly decent this year so I had some pretty good yields in a lot of fields, and some fields, well, so-so.… ... Continue Reading

Minnesota’s dairy farmer advocacy group has made some changes that will help them focus more on policy issues.  Minnesota Milk Executive Director Lucas Sjostrom tells Brownfield the change affects many behind-the-scenes tasks. “A bunch of great staff at Midwest Dairy was doing a lot of the things that the great staff at Edge are going… ... Continue Reading

Most of Wisconsin’s soybeans and a third of the state’s corn are in the bin.  USDA reporters say last week’s warm and sunny weather allowed farmers to get a lot of fieldwork done. Eighty-six percent of the soybeans are harvested, which is about nine days ahead of the average. The corn harvest is 37% finished,… ... Continue Reading

An online tool uses weather and soil information to help farmers prevent spreading fertilizer when there is a risk of runoff. 

Andrea Topper

Andrea Topper is with Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.  She tells Brownfield the potential for runoff events is highest in the fall and the spring. “In the summer, the forecasting tool looks out 72 hours into the future, so three days into the future. When the ground is frozen, it looks out ten days into the future, so trying to capture a little bit more of that potential time frame when the risk is still there for manure to be able to run off.”

Topper says the tool uses more than a simple weather forecast.  “It’s also taking into consideration soil temperature, and then it does take into consideration in the winter months the extent of snow cover and snow melt.

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Wisconsin’s most recent past president of FFA is a finalist for a national FFA officer position.  Ben Styer from Menomonie made it to the final round at the National FFA convention in Indianapolis.  National officer selections will take place over the weekend. Styer is also double-majoring in animal science plus agriculture and food business management… ... Continue Reading

A western Wisconsin farmer is grateful Mother Nature has brought some late-season warm weather to help finish the corn. Shane Goplin has begun harvesting corn near Osseo. He tells Brownfield, “We’re hunting and pecking on where it’s dry enough, so we’re going to combine as long as we can and try and keep it under… ... Continue Reading

An investigation into $9 million of stolen frozen beef has uncovered a crime ring based in Miami that targeted packing plants in six states. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s office in Nebraska says the three people who were arrested last week targeted beef and pork packing plants in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and… ... Continue Reading

Eight Wisconsin schools are receiving Ag in the Classroom grants.  A total of four thousand dollars in this round will support innovative core curricula initiatives that incorporate agriculture.  Beth Schaefer is the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Ag in the Classroom coordinator.  Schaefer says one of the unique programs funded by the grants is with the SAGES… ... Continue Reading

Many Wisconsin farmers are pleased with harvest results this year.  Raymond Dietrich from the Green Bay area is a dairy farmer who raises his own feed. “Some winter wheat that did okay. It wasn’t an excellent crop but it wasn’t a bad crop. We had alfalfa hay that we managed to get harvested on an… ... Continue Reading