University researchers and agribusinesses have been looking at precision agriculture too narrowly and missing its real potential, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison expert.

Young people interested in dairy farming have until Oct. 15 to apply for an innovative program, now in its fifth year, to help them establish their own grass-based dairy farms in Wisconsin.

Alternative crops for northern Wisconsin will be the focus of a field day July 13 at the Ashland Agricultural Research Station.

Farmers across the state can visit an internet site to check on the corn borer situation, see if potato late blight is a problem, or find out if they should flood their cranberry bogs. It’s all part of a revolution in the way growers get weather and related information.

For the past five years, Dale Schlough has been in charge of most of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Richard J. Straub, chairman of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, has been named the new director of the College’s Agricultural Research Stations. Straub replaces Dale Schlough, who will retire July 1 after 30 years with the stations.

Visitors will find a smorgasbord of forage topics awaiting them at the Summer Field Day, Wednesday, June 23 at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Marshfield Agricultural Research Station.

The Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association held its annual senior breakfast Sunday May 16. Twelve graduating seniors received Leadership and Activity Awards for their participation in student organizations in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Three seniors also received

Reductions in tobacco allotments have slashed production and income for Wisconsin tobacco farmers, and many are looking for alternative crops to replace tobacco. Echinacea (commonly known as the coneflower) has become a popular herbal supplement, and reports of high profits have some tobacco growers thinking about switching to Echinacea production. That could be a very risky switch, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.

The amount of nitrogen that leached from two corn fields during a three-year study was many times greater than that leaching from a restored prairie, according to University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists.