Lauren Asprooth’s research was recently featured in an article published on FarmWeekNow.com A recent article published on FarmWeekNow.com discusses the challenges and success stories in […]

A recent article published in The Cap Times, “Waves of grain: How Wisconsin’s sustainable grain movement is growing“, discusses the burgeoning sustainable grain movement in […]

As of 2019 the five-year average farm gate price of organic corn in the U.S. is around $9 per bushel while the average for conventional corn has been about $3.50. Is it any wonder that some farmers are looking at what it takes to transition to certified organic production?

Wisconsin is a national leader in organic agriculture. Wisconsin had 1,334 organic farms in 2015, nearly doubling over the last 10 years. This puts our state in a good position to participate in the growing market for organic food, both in the U.S. and across the globe.

The World Economic Forum rates food crises, extreme weather and failure of infrastructure as top global risks in 2015. Around the world, regions are contending with extreme weather, including drought, flooding and changes in growing seasons.

The Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST) was established in 1989 in response to farmers and others making a case for long-term research on low-input farming. WICST set out to investigate both the benefits and limitations of alternative agriculture through replicated research on the productivity, profitability and environmental impacts of both sustainably and conventionally managed production systems.

Organic Agriculture in Wisconsin: 2015 Status Report provides data on organic production,
markets and farmer demographics. This report also includes a special section on organic grain, including possible strategies to increase organic grain production in our state.

This report summarizes 23 studies conducted by researchers in the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) in partnership with farmers across the state. Those studies look at production practices for the state’s main agricultural products as well as farm management and marketing.

In the mid 1980s, a pair of wheat producers, Karl Kupers and Fred Fleming, became convinced that the conventional dryland wheat farming they were practicing was not sustainable in the Palouse region of eastern Washington.

This case study shares the experience of one Wisconsin farmer who has been growing cover crops on his cash grain farm for twenty years. He presents his philosophy of cover crop use, explains what cover crop management practices have and have not worked on his farm, and describes what benefits he sees from growing cover crops.