I read an article last week that stated the spring of 2019 was one of the coldest and wettest springs in 30+ years. As I look out my office window at another day of cloudy skies and 50-degree temperatures it is not hard to believe. Usually by Mother’s Day the asparagus and rhubarb are growing […]

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It’s the middle of February as I write this blog and I can truthfully say that I normally love this time of year. I have never minded shoveling snow, firing up the snowblower or in my younger years hitting the ski slopes and sledding with the kids and grandkids. This is also the time of […]

Perry Brown, Executive Director, of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute along with Devon Hamilton, one of MFAI’s Policy staff, discuss sustainable agriculture….including cover crops, urban agriculture, youth work, genetic contamination, and industrial hemp. MFAI focuses on sustainable agriculture research, policy, youth work, urban farming, and farmer-led watershed conservation. Recorded: January 14, 2019, 7-8pm Listen to MFAI’s […]

Published Sunday, December 30, 2018, by Jim Dayton   Michael Fields Agricultural Institute Executive Director Perry Brown harvests industrial hemp plants, roots and all, from their research plot in East Troy. JANESVILLE Local hemp farmers are feeling some relief from the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp production at the federal level and clarified the […]

First published online at PNS December 20, 2018     Read full article here

I recently read an article debating where a company should spend marketing dollars. This debate centered around trying to increase current customer purchases versus bring new customers into the company. The main point of the article was it is cheaper to entice current customers to increase their product purchases by a few extra boxes, but […]

Dear Friends of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, They say it takes a village to raise a child, but if we are to grow the sustainable agriculture movement it will take resources way beyond a village. Soil health and renewal is one of the key agriculture issues humanity faces in the next 20 – 30 years. […]

Dear Friends, Michael Fields was founded over 34 years ago by a small group of concerned individuals who believed in the importance of soil health and growing crops utilizing organic and biodynamic methods. Since that initial start the organization has continued to grow with an continuing influx of new faces and ideas that continue to […]

While the normal summer heat and humidity continues to build and many of you are looking for a beach or cooler areas to vacation, summer is one of our busiest times of the year at MFAI. This is our prime growing season and staff is scrambling to keep up with all the data collection at […]

After a cool, wet spring we are finally in full farming mode with our field crop research initiatives. Like many of you, we had a late spring snow the third week in April and soil temperatures did not start to rise above 50 degrees until the middle of May. Finally, on May 29th we were […]

Ag Matters with Jim Raymond Jim Raymond of the Rock County Ag Business Council explores the many reasons why “Ag Matters.” Tune in each Saturday morning at 5:30 or Monday mornings at 11am Click below to hear MFAI Executive Director, Perry Brown, talk with Jim. 9/23/17 – Ag Matters

November 13, 1930 – February 7, 2018 “The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people.  But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind.  It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to […]

For those of you who knew Christopher Mann you will understand when I tell you I am writing this Director’s blog with sadness in my heart following his passing last week. It was Christopher Mann along with his wife Martina and Ruth Zinniker who had the vision and drive to start Michael Fields Agriculture Institute […]

This will be a short blog this month. We are into what should be the dog days of summer, but once again mother nature has a mind of her own. Usually during this time of year, we are hot and dry, but as I write this article it is cloudy and we will probably only […]

Dear Friends, Thank you for supporting the mission of Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. I am pleased to present you our Annual Report for 2016. This past year saw many changes at MFAI, including the decision to defer the operation of our garden market program. Our efforts will concentrate on field crop research in cover crops, […]

During the month of May, I had the opportunity to attend an Iowa County pasture walk, several meetings on cover crop research/education. I also spent a warm Sunday afternoon listening to Madison-based Meteorologist Bob Lindmeier talk about the realities and consequences of climate change. So the question is, “What do the first two events have […]

It is the middle of May and we are finally getting some warm dry weather. For those of us located in the Southeastern part of the state, it has been a dreary spring. First, it was an unusually warm January and February. Then we had a cool wet March and April with more rain and […]

The Nature Conservancy and Michael Fields Agricultural Institute won The Milwaukee Business Journal’s Most Environmentally Friendly Project Award 2016, for their Farmland Conservation/Water Protection Project. Read the Business Journal Article here       

I had a recent opportunity to listen in on a panel comprised of organic farmers and organic processors that discussed growing food grade organic grains and the markets for these products. One of the farmers on the panel had transitioned to organic production approximately 10 years ago and called himself a “recovering conventional farmer”. While […]

After an exceptionally warm January and February, Mother Nature has decided to remind us that winter is not quite finished in Southern Wisconsin yet. As I look out my office window today, I see a fresh blanket of pure white snow covering the ground and a beautiful red Cardinal perched in the tree preening its […]

It’s early February as I write this blog, and we have just seen an unusually warm, rainy January that took away our snow cover and the frost in the ground. Farmers in the area are worried about the effect of this weather on their alfalfa and wheat fields and what harm standing water may do […]

As I sit down to write this article, I am starting my second week as Executive Director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI). My head is still spinning as I try to understand all the programs and projects we manage here at the Institute. One thing that is obvious to me after sitting at this […]

As 2016 draws to a close, my time as Executive Director is also coming to an end. It has been a great ride, so to speak. I’ve never had a position that I have learned so much from so many people. First and foremost, I’ve have been blessed with a great staff. They put up […]

It is my great pleasure to introduce Michael Fields Agricultural Institute’s new Executive Director, Perry Brown. The search committee reviewed more than 20 applications from all over the country and in the end, found our ideal candidate right in our back yard. Originally from a farming family in central Illinois, Perry has lived in Delavan, […]