Richard Adamski and Valerie Dantoin of Seymour, Randall and Rosalie Geiger of Reedsville, David Heidel of Random Lake, Linda Hodorff of Eden, Roger Ripley of Briggsville, and Russell Schuler of Sheboygan Falls will receive Honorary Recognition awards Oct. 27 from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The awards will be presented at a banquet in the Memorial Union on the UW-Madison campus.

Humans have cultivated potatoes for millennia, but there has been great controversy about the ubiquitous vegetable’s origins. This week a team led by a USDA potato taxonomist stationed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has for the first time demonstrated a single origin in southern Peru for the cultivated potato.

The strong grip and force needed to operate a manual pruner can strain arms, wrists, hands and fingers. Using an electronic pruner is more efficient than using a manual pruner, because it reduces hand fatigue and is faster. Workers who use a manual pruner hour after hour will make slower, more ragged cuts. An electronic pruner consistently produces clean cuts, and can reduce pruning time by 20 percent because it alleviates strain.

The Wisconsin 4-H team, represented by Polk County, took third place in the Youth Dairy Cattle Judging Contest – 4-H Division at the 37th All American Dairy Show Invitational, Sept. 19 at Harrisburg, Pa. Fourteen state 4-H teams competed; Minnesota 4-H won the contest.

Dairy cattle judges from the University of Wisconsin-Madison competed at the Accelerated Genetics 12th Annual Midwest Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, Sept. 18 at Viroqua, Wis. The UW-Madison team placed third overall with 2,063 points, just 1 point behind second-place Iowa State University. The University of Minnesota won the contest.

Managed grazing is becoming increasingly popular with Wisconsin dairy farmers. Grazing systems reduce labor requirements and provide environmental benefits, as the cows harvest much of their own feed and spread their own manure. In addition to these benefits, a new report from UW-Madison shows that these grazing farms are economically competitive with confinement dairy operations.

One of the greatest agricultural and evolutionary puzzles is the origin of maize–and part of the answer may lie in a plot of corn on the western edge of Madison, where a hybrid crop gives new life to ancient genetic material.

As part of a new program to build relationships with prospective students, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Dairy Science Department held a raffle drawing during the Wisconsin State Fair junior dairy show. The Andis Company co-sponsored the program. Jordan Dorn of Green County and Trent Styczynski of Shawano County each won a set of Andis? Cattle Clippers. Other winners of UW-Madison Dairy Science apparel included Nick Jens, Sheboygan County; Tyler Jauquet, Kewaunee County; Nate Kringle, Barron County; Jacob Cramer, Jefferson County; Joel Barlow, Jefferson County; and Danielle Brown, Iowa County.

Prospective students have until Oct. 1 to register for the 2005-2006 Farm and Industry Short Course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Dane County, Wisconsin is home to more than 120,000 dairy cows and some of the most productive farmland in the state. It’s also home to some of the hottest house-building in the state, thanks to a thriving job market in and around Madison, the capital city. And it’s home to some thorny urban/rural problems, as dairy farmers try to manage manure in a countryside that’s filling up with houses and commuters.