Wisconsin junior dairy exhibitors gave fairgoers an excellent view of the state’s dairy industry at the 2005 Wisconsin Junior State Fair. County exhibits featuring elite groups of cattle and incorporating dairy promotion themes were judged in the herdsmanship competition. Dairy youth exhibitors from 44 Wisconsin counties competed for the title of champion herdsmen.

The Marshfield Agricultural Research Station’s second annual Twilight Garden Meeting will be held Wednesday, Aug. 24. Following a welcome at 6 p.m. by assistant station superintendent Mike Bertram, presenters will cover a variety of gardening and produce-management topics.

Vampires will have a miserable time at this year’s Horticultural Field Day, Aug. 20 at the West Madison Research Station. Eleven cultivars of roasted garlic will be available for taste-testing, and the station’s Allium vegetable collection – onions, leeks and shallots – will be highlighted for the first time at a field day. Visitors will also find sweet corn, salsas, melons, cucumbers and a wide variety of peppers and tomatoes to sample.

Visitors to the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station’s summer field day Tuesday, Aug. 23, will open the day with a welcome and research update from station superintendent Tom Drendel and assistant superintendent Mike Bertram.

The UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems has been selected by the EPA as a Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program Champion for 2005. This designation honors CIAS for its efforts to reduce pesticide risk through sustainable agricultural practices such as Integrated Pest Management and organic farming. CIAS also received this national honor in 2003.

Columbia County won the State 4-H Senior Dairy Judging Contest held July 29, 2005 at the Polk County Fair in St. Croix Falls. They earned the right to represent Wisconsin at the National 4-H Contest held at World Dairy Expo in Madison. Polk County finished second and Walworth County was third. Polk County will travel to the Pennsylvania All-American Youth Dairy Judging Contest in Harrisburg, Pa.

We made it! Our determined group of ten riders completed the 235-mile ride from Cadott to Madison June 24 to June 27 in great spirits … and with only

Twelve senior dairy judging teams and eight individuals from across the state will travel to the Polk Country Fairgrounds July 29 to compete in the 2005 State 4-H Senior Dairy Cattle Judging contest and vie for the opportunity to move on to a national-level contest. The teams and individuals are selected from four statewide district judging contest as part of the 4-H Area Animal Science Days program. Participants judge eight classes of dairy cows and heifers at each competition. Seniors who are 15 to 19 years old give reasons on three classes while younger junior contestants answer conformation-related questions on two classes.

A group of food science students captured first place this year in a national product development contest for

Ground was broken July 7 for the new Cereal Crops Research Unit on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The new facility is funded and operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.