School for Beginning Dairy & Livestock Farmers

The Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers can give you the edge you need to succeed in the pasture-based dairy and livestock industries. It is the only program of its kind in the nation. We offer our specialized training through traditional classroom activities, hands-on internships, and farm tours. We strongly emphasize the business and financial planning knowledge required to run a successful farm business. Classroom instruction at the school runs from the middle of November through the end of March — and our students typically participate in internships from April through July. For more information, visit the school's website.
Bicyclists Pedal for Pledges to Support Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers

Bicyclists Pedal for Pledges to Support Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers

Friends of the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers will be pedaling for pledges when they roll out Friday, June 13 in the 5th Annual Ride to Farm. A group of determined cyclists will make a three-day trip from a farm near Nichols in Outagamie County to a farm at Elkhorn in Walworth County. [...more]

UW-Madison School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers Receives its Largest-Ever Endowment Gift

UW-Madison School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers Receives its Largest-Ever Endowment Gift

The UW-Madison’’s School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers has received its biggest contribution ever—a gift of $50,000 pledged by FCS Financial Services, a farmer-owned financial services cooperative based in Wausau. The gift will support increased programming and initiatives, such as distance education classrooms, internships and mentoring, for this one-of-a-kind program for beginning and transitioning farmers. Program [...more]

New Zealand internships provide eye-opening experience

“I must say it was the hardest I’ve ever worked for free, but somehow I really didn’t mind. I knew that the knowledge I gained was priceless.” Those are the words of Mike Tomandl who recently completed a dairy farm internship in New Zealand. He and fellow intern Joe Heimerl went to New Zealand in July [...more]

Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers CD set

Learn about grass-based dairying from the comfort of your home with the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers CD set! You can view the Grass-Based Dairy Seminar sessions taught by grass farmers, UW and Extension faculty, and other professionals right on your home computer. This seminar is designed to familiarize you with the principles and practices [...more]

Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers (Research Brief #37)

Wisconsin has suffered dramatic losses in numbers of dairy farms. While the decrease in part includes large numbers of retiring dairy farmers, the lack of young people entering dairy farming is an even more significant factor in the decline. To reverse that trend a creative approach is needed to make dairy farming more attractive. The Wisconsin [...more]

Events

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CIAS in the community

How do we get more local produce in the marketplace?

How do we get more local produce in the marketplace?

On December 8th, CIAS co-hosted a meeting for 50 public and private sector leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges of fresh produce aggregation and distribution in Wisconsin. This meeting was supported in part by the Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment, a UW-Madison based fund designed to foster public engagement and advance the Wisconsin Idea. The December 8th meeting exemplified the Wisconsin Idea, bringing together university and other public sector advocates and private sector food industry business leaders. The agenda for this meeting was designed to identify and begin addressing the key barriers to greater local food sale in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest. Notes from this meeting will be available shortly. For more information, contact Anne Pfeiffer, 608-890-1905.

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