Crops and Livestock
CIAS research focuses on the sustainability of diverse crop and livestock systems. Our work includes pasture-based livestock production, fresh fruit and vegetable production and marketing, specialty crops and integrated farming systems.
Cover crops — CIAS has partnered with the USDA Dairy Forage Research Center, the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, and many campus units to super-charge work on cover crops. Please see the CCROP project website as well as CIAS contributions to the CCROP collaboration, including a citizen science effort.
Dairy CIAS works with the UW Center for Dairy Profitability and farm organizations to address dairy research needs on market structure, based on policy analysis from the Center for Dairy Profitability. We hosted global dairy economist Torsten Hemme in April 2020 to discuss dairy economics. Starting in 2020, we are hosting numerous meetings with farm leadership to discuss ways to address oversupply, supply chain coordination, and growth management strategies for dairy.
Fruit – Are you growing apples for fresh market or for hard cider production? CIAS works with apple growers to make orchards more resilient. Go to http://www.ecofruit.wisc.edu/appletalk/ for project meeting summaries since 2005! Also look for resources in the publications link regarding our hard cider research.