Many U.S. farmers now plant crops that contain genes from another species. But from a global perspective such transgenic, or genetically modified, crops remain relatively uncommon around the world, according to a University of Wisconsin-Madison study.

For years, scientists have used mouse embryonic stem cells as a window to the mysteries of early development. In more recent times, the vast biomedical potential of human stem cells has sparked the public imagination and held out hope for millions of people with chronic cell-based diseases.

A team of dairy cattle judges from the University of Wisconsin-Madison took first place at the Accelerated Genetics 8th Annual Midwest Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest, Sept. 16 at Viroqua, Wis. The Badger judges, all students at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, won the contest and had the high individual scorer for the second year in a row.

Herbert F. Behnke of Shawano, Roger and Bill Borgwardt of Valders, Guy Gottschalk of Wisconsin Rapids, and Lloyd A. Holterman of Watertown will receive Honorary Recognition awards Nov. 1 from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Use of bovine somatotropin on Wisconsin farms may have hit a plateau, with about one-sixth of state dairy farms currently using the technology. This adoption level is well below what was expected of this controversial technology in the debate that preceded its commercial release in 1994. According to a study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, BST adoption grew from use on 7 percent of Wisconsin’s dairy farms in 1995 to 15 percent in 1999. Survey results in 2001 show that adoption has only inched up since 1999, with 16 percent of farmers currently using BST.

Kent Weigel has joined the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as assistant professor and extension specialist in dairy cattle breeding and genetics. Weigel will also serve as genetics program administrator for the National Association of Animal Breeders, which will provide partial salary support and research funding for the position.

A short stroll along Linden Drive and down Henry Mall takes visitors past the sites of some of the biggest scientific achievements of the past century. Those locations are no longer anonymous, thanks to a series of 19 plaques that highlights accomplishments at the UW-Madison”s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

American consumers spent $9 billion on cut flowers in 1998, according to USDA statistics. But they might buy even more if they knew the flowers would last longer once they were cut.

Many crops, flowers and weeds don’t bloom their first summer. Known as biennials, these plants only flower and set seed after a prolonged period of near-freezing temperatures.

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.