People interested in starting grass-based dairy farms won”t have to travel long distances to learn from current graziers and other grass-based dairy specialists. A Distance Education project based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison”s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences will allow students to “meet” with the experts at county UW-Extension offices and on their home computers. The seminar will be taught at the Animal Sciences building on the CALS campus, with audio and synchronized PowerPoint visuals transmitted over the Internet to county offices and home PCs.

Through presentations and discussions, the seminar will familiarize students with the principles and practices of developing and managing a grass-based dairy farm business. Instructors include grass-based dairy farmers, UW-Extension specialists and county agents, and representatives of ag lending and other ag agencies.

The course will meet on Wednesdays for three terms, beginning Nov. 10 and ending March 29, 2000. Term 1 will cover starting a grass-based dairy business (including goal-setting, grazing principles, fencing, watering and lane construction, farm selection and layout, and winter feeding and housing); term 2, developing a business plan; and term 3, managing the business. A final list of all term topics will be available later this autumn.

The seminar will be offered at eight walk-in sites in Wisconsin, where county Extension dairy agents will act as coordinators and facilitators. (SEE BELOW FOR LOCATIONS AND CONTACTS) All students enrolled at a site will share the $200 site fee. Eight sites will also be open to PC users anywhere in the United States or Canada on a first-come, first-serve basis. For more information on the PC sites, go here.

The seminar is offered by the UW-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course, the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers, and Cooperative Extension, UW-Extension.

The enrollment deadline is Oct. 15. For an enrollment application, please contact Kathy Martin Taylor, program assistant at the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers, (608) 262-5200, kmtaylor@aae.wisc.edu