In this, the first episode of Field Notes, we dive headlong into the practice of interseeding cover crops into standing corn, a practice becoming more and more popular in Wisconsin. To help us out, we talk with Anne Pfeiffer, program manager for UW-Madison's on-farm research research network, and Marty Weiss, a farmer in Dodge County and the vice-president of Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soils Healthy Waters farmer-led watershed group.

Episode 1: Interseeding

As fall arrives, farmers turn to harvest. Once the dust settles, some fields lay bare while others show signs of life heading into winter. We talk with Kevin Shelley of UW-Madison's Nutrient and Pest Management program and Scott Carlson, a farmer in northwestern Wisconsin, about the benefits, challenges, and choices of planting winter cover crops.

Episode 2: Winter Cover Crops

Everyone is talking about soil health, so we thought we should too. We chat a bit about what exactly is soil health with Jamie Patton of UW-Madison's Nutrient and Pest Management program and Brendon Blank, a farmer and Byron Seeds rep from Ixonia, WI, and importantly, how do you measure progress?

Episode 4: Evaluating Soil Health

Drought affects pasture as well as crops. During these dry times, what are the considerations that graziers need to keep in mind to optimize forage, and what are the advantages that a rotationally grazed system gives us when we're short on water? We talk with Mary C Anderson, Wisconsin DNR Grazing Specialist, retired dairy farmer, and current grass-fed/finished beef farmer and Kevin Mahalko from the Gilman, WI area, a grass-fed dairy farmer and president of Grassworks.

Episode 10: Rotational Grazing in Drought

There is a lot of solar being sited in Wisconsin with some projects reaching a pretty massive scale. The traditional narrative has been hello solar, goodbye agriculture, however a new crop of farmers, researchers, and solar companies are thinking differently: how can we continue to farm this land between, under, and around solar panels? Steffen Mirsky from Extension's Cutting Edge Podcast joins us as we talk with Sarah Moser, director of agrivoltaics with Savion, a utility-scale solar developer, and Eric Romich, Extension Field Specialist in Energy Development with the Ohio State University about their current and future projects investigating how to grow and mechanically harvest hay under solar in Ohio.

Photo taken by Tobi Kellner and used under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Episode 11: Farming + Solar = Agrivoltaics

Field Notes reporting from the field, well, the bar. We sit down with Mark Keller of Kellercrest Holsteins of Mt. Horeb and Chelsea Zegler, Outreach Specialist with Extension's Ag Water Quality Program, at the Mt. Vernon Tap to talk phosphorus and how farmers can work to draw down excessive levels and save money in the meantime. Mark recounts the Pleasant Valley Watershed Project that worked with farmers in the area to adopt conservation practices like reduced tillage and cover crops for forage, which reduced soil test and water phosphorus levels by 40%, which meant big fertilizer savings. And Chelsea discusses pathways for phosphorus loss and ways to mitigate and keep the dollars in your fields.

Episode 12: Drawing Down Soil Test Phosphorus

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Field Notes brings you an episode all about cranberries. Wisconsin's state fruit for a reason; we produce the majority of the world's supply, and who better to dig into the details, or the peat, than UW-Madison Extension Cranberry Outreach Specialist Allison Jonjak? We strap on our waders and hop into the bogs to talk about Wisconsin's production of this native, perennial vine and the unique environment and highly acidic soils in which they grow.

Episode 14: Cranberry Production

Whereas most grain farmers with a livestock grow crops to feed their cattle, Jeff Gaska a farmer between Beaver Dam and Columbus in Dodge County is trying to grow his cattle to feed his crops. One of the ways he is moving towards this goal is by grazing cover crops interseeded into 60" row corn. We talk with Jeff about this system, the results that he has had over the last couple of years, especially with drought, as well as the approach to how he is determining if it is an economically viable practice for his farm.

Episode 15: Grazing Cover Crops Interseeded into 60" Row Corn

Heard about the Haney test and want to learn more about how it might be used in Wisconsin? Listen in while we chat with leading UW researchers and outreach specialists Chris Bandura, John Jones, and Andrew Stammer on this topic. We dive in deep discussing how the Haney test can be used practically on-farm, how it calculates fertility recommendations differently than other soil tests, and what that means for Wisconsin cropping systems.

Episode 17: Notes on Using the Haney Test in Wisconsin

Like gas and groceries, the cost of trucking and raising dairy heifers out West has gone up. Does this present Wisconsin farmers with an opportunity to lure these animals back to the state with low-input approaches and similar performance standards with well-managed grazing? We sit down with Jason Cavadini, UW-Madison Extension Grazing Outreach Specialist, and Mike Redetzke, a farmer custom-raising dairy heifers near Colby to discuss the nuts and bolts of getting confinement dairy operations in Wisconsin to put their heifers out on grass.

Episode 18: Dairy Heifer Grazing

From severe drought to flooded fields, Wisconsin's forage producers are turning to forage species that can provide adaptability and flexibility in the midst of abnormal conditions. We jump in with Yoana Newman, UW-River Falls professor and Extension forage specialist, and Matt Oehmican, from Short Lane Ag Supply, to talk the details of warm season annual forages, from the decision-making process for growing these species to the unique technical agronomy management warm season annuals need to grow in Wisconsin. Are warm season annual forages a fit for your farm's forage inventory?

Field Notes Episode 19: Warm Season Annual Forages

Much time has been spent on the environmental benefits of conservation agriculture. But, do practices like reduced tillage and cover crops pencil out for farmers, and how do we figure that out? In the first episode of this two-fer on the economics of conservation, we talk with Jeff Hadachek, Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor of Ag Economics at UW-Madison, to get the economist's take on why economics is a useful tool when talking about conservation practices and adoption.

Episode 20: An Economist's Take on the Dollars and Sense of Conservation Agriculture

Much time has been spent on the environmental benefits of conservation agriculture. But, do practices like reduced tillage and cover crops pencil out for farmers, and how do we figure that out? In the second episode of this two-fer on the economics of conservation, we talk with Jake Kaderly, who works as a crop consultant under the name Kaderly Ag and farms 330 acres in Green County, for the farmer's take on how he pencils out conservation practices.

Jake's farm was profiled in an American Farmland Trust Soil Health Case Study that runs some of these numbers and is referred to in the episode. You can find the report here: https://farmlandinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/kaderly-ag-soil-health-case-study.pdf

Episode 21: A Farmer's Take on the Dollars and Sense of Conservation Agriculture

Excess water, drought, and water quality are frequent topics in Wisconsin's agricultural community. We sit down with Mallika Nocco, assistant professor and extension specialist in agrohydrology from UW-Madison to discuss water conservation: What is it, why does it matter for Wisconsin farmers, and what are practical ways we can implement it on the landscape? Listen in now to hear all about it.

Photo: University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms

Follow Up Resources
UW-Madison Extension Ag Water Quality: https://agwater.extension.wisc.edu/
UW-Madison Extension Crop Irrigation:
https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/cropirrigation/
Find Your Local NRCS Service Center:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/wisconsin

Episode 22: Water Conservation in Cropping Systems

We talk quite a bit about on farm research results on Field Notes, so we thought it was high time to do an episode detailing the ins and outs of doing research on farms in Wisconsin. We dive into the details of asking the right question, trial design and logistics, and analysis with Ben Turzinski, a third-generation grain and vegetable farmer in Almond, WI in the Central Sand, and Monica Schauer, Research Director for Wisconsin's Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Projects program.

Episode 23: Doing On Farm Research

Transitioning a farm with the bumps and successes along the way. Darren Eichelkraut farms on a 50 cow organic dairy with his family, including his dad, Junior Eichelkraut, right next to Paoli, Wisconsin. Darren and Junior tell us the story about how Junior transitioned the farm to organic, allowing Darren to come back to and eventually take over the farm.

Episode 24: Generational and Organic Farming Transitions

Treated seed is the default for planted soybean (60-80%) and especially corn (close to 100%) acres across the US. While there are certainly advantages to some seed treatments, especially fungicidal treatments for early planted soybeans, others like insecticidal seed treatments can have a negative effect on the beneficial insects--aka good bugs--that prey on major pests in agricultural fields. Some farmers in a bid to save some money and help out the beneficials have gone back to planting naked seed. To break it all down with chat with Dane Elmquist, a conservation cropping specialist with UW-Madison Extension and big fan of arthropods, and Tom Ripp, a no-till and cover cropping grain farmer just outside of Black Earth, who plants naked soybeans.

Episode 25: Good Bugs and Planting Naked Seed

Before dairy, wheat was king in Wisconsin. Between 1840 and 1880, the state was largest wheat producer in United States, providing a full sixth of the nation's supply. Today, wheat is 5% of total grain crop (corn, soy, wheat) acres in the state. While there are benefits to having wheat in the rotation and a healthy local market for straw, a higher potential for dockages due to quality standards than corn or soy can be a deterrent for farmers. We talk with Charlie Hammer a farmer near Beaver Dam and independent crop consultant Bill Stangel of Soil Solutions Consulting about how they manage their significant wheat acreage in Dodge County to keep DON levels low and test weight high to meet grade and push yields.



Photo taken by Richard Hurd and under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode 

Episode 26: Avoiding Dockages and Pushing Yield with Wheat

In years of low commodity prices, most farmers think about where they might be able to cut costs. Some might begin to think about alternative crops can fit into row crop production. Enter the sunflower. From birdseed, to oilseed, and just looking dang pretty, sunflower production in the state remains miniscule compared to corn, soy, and wheat, but new crops like it can help farmers diversify income streams and reduce risk. So how do we grow them anyways? To find out, we talk with two farmers who also happen to be researchers/educators, Sam Bibby, farmer in Trempeleau County and Regional Crops Educator with UW Madison Extension in La Crosse, Vernon, and Crawford counties and Ben Brockmueller, farmer in South Dakota and Research Technician with Dr. Erin Silva's lab at UW Madison.

Sunflower Production in Wisconsin

Two educators with UW-Madison Extension in Wisconsin combining our skills, knowledge, and experience to help farmers and agronomists develop research-based solutions to issues facing agriculture in Wisconsin.

Field Notes

Popular tracks