Despite the lowest milk prices in two decades, state farmers probably won’t see a repeat of the financial crisis of the mid-1980s – at least not this year, according to Bruce Jones, an economist at the UW-Madison’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Milk prices account for more than half the cash receipts of Wisconsin farmers, and the low prices are putting more and more farms under financial stress. Unless milk prices improve, the state’s farm economy could face big problems in coming years, he says.

High school juniors and seniors, their parents, and other prospective students are invited to visit the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and see if the Farm and Industry Short Course will meet their needs.

Interim Farm and Industry Short Courses will be offered the weeks of Jan. 8-12 and Jan. 16-20 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of the family dairy farm have been greatly exaggerated.

Wisconsin 4H dairy cattle judging teams won the National and North American International Livestock Exposition youth dairy cattle judging contests this fall. This marks the first time Wisconsin has won both contests in the same year. The Wisconsin 4H team placed sixth at the 32nd All American Dairy Show Invitational.

High school seniors interested in studying dairy science are encouraged to apply for admission to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the fall 2001 semester. Applications can now be submitted on-line at http://www.undergrad.cals.wisc.edu/ The deadline to apply is February 1st, 2001.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison judging team took first place at the North American International Livestock Exposition Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, held Nov. 5 at Louisville, Ky.

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invites prospective students, including high school juniors and seniors, and their parents to preview what the Farm and Industry Short Course has to offer.

Applied agricultural and natural resources research in Wisconsin will get a big boost in the next four years because College of Agricultural and Life Sciences researchers and extension specialists at University of Wisconsin-Madison scored high in a new U.S. Department of Agriculture grants competition.

A research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is enlisting the help of hundreds of U.S. dairy producers in an effort to prevent Johne’s disease. Johne’s may be the most serious infectious disease now threatening the U.S. dairy industry.