The Fourth Great Lakes Dairy Sheep Symposium will be held at the Badgerland Area Civic Center in Spooner, Wis., June 26-27, 1998.

Critics charge that the New Zealand Dairy Board distorts trade, hurts U.S. milk producers, and uses its monopoly exporting status to disadvantage its competitors. However, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor says that many of these complaints are based on questionable assertions regarding the board and its practices.

The Land Information & Computer Graphics Facility at UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences is helping to map the future of Dane County – literally. Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk is hosting a series of public workshops designed “to listen to citizens throughout Dane County as they discuss their concerns about our growth.” LICGF staff are providing technical assistance, presenting various maps, and are conducting land use mapping exercises throughout the workshop series. The next workshop will be at the Dane County Forum, Feb. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Randall C. “Swanny” Swanson, emeritus professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, died Jan. 13 at his home in Madison, Wis. He was 94 years old.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor David Ward will consider four finalists for dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences recommended Tuesday by a college search committee.

Wilfrid Turba, Dave Dickson and the Wisconsin Public Service Corporation will be honored for their contributions to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Farm and Industry Short Course at its annual alumni reunion Jan. 24 in Madison.

Professor Arthur J. Maurer died Saturday, Jan. 10, 1998 at his home in Verona, Wis., of cardiac arrhythmia due to coronary artery disease. He was 55 years old.

Many Wisconsin farmers believe they have little to gain and a lot to lose from large-scale livestock operations in their neighborhoods, according to the results of a survey by the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

While many people merely lament the decline in numbers of new farmers and the subsequent decline of family farms numbers in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers is taking steps to help energetic young people enter farming as a profession.

If you own or help manage an agricultural business and want to improve your management skills, you might be interested in an upcoming educational program. But you’ll need to act fast.