The Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison (LTC), will assist the Sahelian countries of Africa in their sustainable development and natural resource management efforts. The Sahel region includes Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal.

Despite the lowest milk prices in two decades, state farmers probably won’t see a repeat of the financial crisis of the mid-1980s – at least not this year, according to Bruce Jones, an economist at the UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Milk prices account for more than half the cash receipts of Wisconsin farmers, and the low prices are putting more and more farms under financial stress. Unless milk prices improve, the state’s farm economy could face big problems in coming years, he says.

High school juniors and seniors, their parents, and other prospective students are invited to visit the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and see if the Farm and Industry Short Course will meet their needs.

University of Wisconsin-Madison forest scientists are heading into Canada to determine how fires in the great boreal forest alter its uptake and release of carbon dioxide. Their findings will help policymakers understand the region’s role in global warming.

Did your garden produce more than you could eat or give away last summer? Have you wondered what it would take to turn your vegetable-growing skills into a small business? The Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Gardeners, to be held Jan. 18 to Jan. 20 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, can provide some answers.

High school juniors and seniors (and their parents) who are curious about the educational opportunities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences are invited to spend an afternoon on campus. The College is “Rolling Out the Red” Oct. 20, Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, and one Friday a month from November to July 2001.

A special cart-building workshop for market gardeners will be offered Dec. 2 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Workshop participants will each build and take home their own cart that can be used for a wide variety of tasks in the market garden or small farm, including transplanting, weeding, and harvesting. The workshop will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and costs $100. Lunch will be provided.

People interested in learning more about the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers, or applying for this year’s upcoming class, can visit with the coordinator, Dick Cates, at a series of public events this fall.

In survey responses, many private woodland owners say that scenery, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities are more important to them than timber harvests. Now a University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher has come up with a method to estimate just how valuable those non-market goods are.

Whether you’re looking for winter-resistant finery for the front yard or fillings for next summer’s salad bowls, you’ll find ideas at Urban Horticulture Field Day, Saturday, Aug. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station.