Well-managed pastures on livestock farms can provide high-quality habitat for grassland bird species that are declining in number, especially if areas within the pasture acreage […]

Fertilizing fields with manure from dairy farms can contribute to elevated levels of phosphorus in waterways. Researchers at UW-Madison hypothesized that composting manure before spreading […]

When researchers at UW-Madison compared greenhouse gas emissions of several different dairy farming systems in Wisconsin, they found that emissions were broadly similar between grazing and confinement dairies.

Researchers at the UW-Madison tested living mulches for use in the production of three organic vegetable crops to evaluate their impact on weed suppression, labor needs and crop yield and quality. The results demonstrated that, while the living mulches did appear to suppress weed populations, they also resulted in lower vegetable yields. The living mulch plots in this study also had higher labor requirements than the control plots.

A technique to control weeds with cover crops called Cover crop-based reduced tillage (CCBRT) is gaining traction on organic row crop farms. Could this technique work on small, organic diversified vegetable farms? A team of UW-Madison researchers undertook a two-year study to evaluate weed suppression, manual labor requirements and crop yield and quality under a CCBRT system in organic vegetable plantings.

American Hazelnuts (Corylus Americana) are native to the Upper Midwest. Hybrids between C. americana and European hazelnuts (Corylus avellana) show promise as a commercial crop and, as woody perennials, may offer environmental benefits by providing continuous cover on the land. However, competition from weeds can negatively impact the establishment and growth of hazelnuts.

Fresh market vegetable growers with multiple crops and markets make numerous, complex production and marketing decisions. The Veggie Compass farm management tool was developed to help farmers make these decisions, based on data gleaned from their farm operations.

Do pastures under management-intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) differ from grasslands under other management in terms of forage quality and quantity, carbon sequestration and biological soil activity? Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison set out to answer these questions and discover some of the reasons behind differences in pasture productivity.

Increasing access to fruits and vegetables in schools is one way to address nutritional and diet-related health concerns among children.

Because agriculture is a major nonpoint phosphorus pollution source, there is strong interest in identifying and managing farm sources of phosphorus runoff. On dairy farms, possible sources of this runoff include cropland, grazed pastures, and outside cattle holding areas such as barnyards and overwintering lots. A new study based on modeled data for four dairy farms that use managed grazing found that these farms have very low phosphorus losses on a whole farm basis.