The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine has awarded Certificates of Proficiency in Dairy Herd Health Management to 32 Wisconsin veterinary practitioners from across the state. The veterinarians, who are the first group to complete the course, received their certificates March 20 at an awards banquet on the UW-Madison campus.

Some small farms in Wisconsin may soon become antibody factories, raising laying hens that produce growth-stimulating antibodies in their egg yolks. When fed to farm animals, the customized yolks increase growth rates, and the animals become more efficient at converting feed to meat.

How could you improve on the immune system? It fights off bacteria and viruses that invade our bodies. How about a new type of vaccine – one that stops dangerous viruses from even entering the body?

Many Wisconsin dairy farm families are coming to a fork in the road regarding their farm’s future. However, farmers may miss an opportunity if they only consider expanding their mid-size operations or selling their assets and getting out of the business. A recent study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found management-intensive rotational grazing to be a cost-effective, popular alternative for a growing number of dairy farmers.

An innovative new means of supporting the dreams of aspiring young farmers also honors the memory of a Richland County dairyman and family farm activist.

When it comes to improving alfalfa, plant geneticist Edwin Bingham believes the job takes persistence. Bingham has become single-minded you might even say persistent in advocating for greater persistence as an agronomic virtue in alfalfa.

A good teacher must combine the qualities of taskmaster and nurturer – a difficult act, but one that Marion Brown has mastered during 32 years of teaching in the Department of Agricultural Journalism. His efforts have earned him a Jung Teaching Award for 1997.

When you hear think of an agricultural engineer, you probably think of heavy metal. You think of someone like Dick Straub, who teaches courses titled “Tractors,” “Tractor and Power Equipment,” and “Spark Ignition and Diesel Engines,” and co-authored a nationally used text, “Farm Machinery Fundamentals.”

Here’s something new for gardeners who have run through all the winter plant catalogs. It’s Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest, a CD-ROM featuring color photos and information on more than 600 species and varieties of trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers that grow in the region.

Managed rotational grazing on deep silt-loam soils does not appear to contribute to groundwater contamination, say researchers from the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center.