Virtual workshop, March 6, 2020, 9 am – Noon, $40, supplies included. This workshop will focus on organic apple tree management in the Upper Midwest. Applications will mostly be geared towards backyard growers, but some commercial management considerations will be touched on. Topics will include tree planting and spacing, fertilizing, pest and disease management, pruning, […]

MFAI is offering an exciting opportunity for home makers to try making their food products with Kernza(R) and join a growing coalition of folks investing in environmentally friendly crops. Join our Kernza Makers Challenge today! Kernza is the first perennial grain undergoing widespread commercialization, and is looked to as a new leading crop to promote […]

Another $14 billion available for farms/ranches.  Contact your USDA-Farm Service Agency office today. CFAP 1 helped support farmers whose crops suffered market losses due to the pandemic. CFAP 2 is an expanded version of the same program. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) began taking applications for CFAP2 on Monday, September 21. The program will end […]

Join Iowa County’s Uplands Watershed Group in SW Wisconsin on Friday, December 11 for a lunch-hour virtual field day entitled, “Dung Beetles – Free Labor for Healthy Pastures and Clean Water,” featuring Uplands farmer Cherrie Nolden and others sharing experience about the important ways that dung beetles distribute nutrients, foster pasture and livestock health, and […]

The statement strung together by the four words, “I’m quitting my job,” changed a man’s life trajectory from an east coast cardiologist to a rural Wisconsin farmer. A rainy November morning gives David Zimrin a break from his cows and time for a phone chat. I am excited to hear about his transition from medicine […]

Gray wolf populations have rebounded considerably throughout the United States after being protected from trapping, hunting, and poisoning by being listed on the federal Endangered Species list for more than 45 years. Wolves were hunted nearly to extinction in Wisconsin and the rest of the U.S. throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but populations are […]

HENRY COUNTY, KY – The Wendell Berry Farming Program of Sterling College is now accepting applications for Fall 2021. The tuition-free two-year residential education program based in Henry County, Kentucky is designed to serve students from generational farm families or those with a strong desire to farm. Students who are residents of Kentucky are particularly […]

With the spread of COVID-19 still a big concern in Wisconsin, smaller farms are losing their traditional customer base, such as restaurants. That has prompted more direct deliveries to consumers. October 26, 2020 – Mike Moen, Public News Service (WI)   DELAVAN, Wis. -Several months into the pandemic, a number of small Wisconsin farms continue […]

Our farmers are essential! They have stories, histories, and practices to share on how they grow food, graze animals, and keep the soil healthy. In light of the pandemic, we have become limited in hosting large public events and farm tours. Despite this limitation, we are finding solutions to share the wisdom of WI farmers. […]

Michael Fields is excited to announce a new project to help women farmers and landowners engage robustly in conservation management of their land.  The Natural Resources Conservation Service recently awarded the Institute and our partners a 3-year contract to work with cohorts of women farmers and landowners in four regions of Wisconsin.  Led by MFAI’s […]

  EAST TROY, Wis. — Analytics are a key measuring tool in professional sports today, but data-driven assessments aren’t limited to that industry. In Wisconsin, agricultural researchers are asking farmers for feedback about a popular conservation practice. Cover crops, commonly used in the early days of agriculture, have made a comeback as a way to […]

Now accepting applications for 2021. Apply for Stateline Farm Beginnings to launch or improve your farm business. Stateline Farm Beginnings® is a yearlong course designed to help launch or expand your farm business. Divided into three main components: Farm Dreams Intensive, Skill Building Practicum, Farm Business Intensive, you’ll receive over 60 contact hours of class […]

Kathleen Delate, Iowa State University, takes viewers on an organic field day visiting the ISU Neely-Kinyon Farm Organic Field Day 2020. Watch the virtual event here ISU Neely-Kinyon Farm Organic Field Day 2020 – YouTube

Stone Barns Center launched the Fellowship in 2019 with the goal of supporting farmers in their transition to regenerative agricultural practices. The program’s peer cohort model fosters participants’ development as both practitioners and ambassadors of regenerative farming. This year’s cohort is geared toward farmers who seek a deeper understanding of Midwest and Northeast regional diverse grain […]

The website for southwest Wisconsin’s Uplands Watershed Group, for which MFAI serves as the fiscal agent and coordinator, recently featured a new video about small grains such as barley, oats, wheat, and rye.  No surprise that MFAI would make it a priority for our talented staffer, Donale Richards, to film and produce it.  For over […]

Multi-state Coalition Aims to Advance Agriculture by Driving Research, Education and Adoption of KernzaⓇ, the first U.S. Perennial Grain Crop A multi-state coalition of researchers, farmers, educators, industry leaders, policy experts, and climate scientists was recently awarded a competitive 5-year, $10 million grant through USDA NIFA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative’s (AFRI) Sustainable Agricultural Systems […]

Glacierland RC&D is one of Wisconsin’s five RC&Ds. They are an independent, not-for-profit organizations that share a common goal: Encouraging economic development while protecting and conserving land, water, and related resources to assure the quality of the natural resource base for future generations. In partnership with the county conservation departments, Glacierland RC&D was selected to […]

You are invited to: Conversations with the Commissioners Share your perspective on the challenges, opportunities and future of rural Wisconsin. Why a Blue Ribbon Commission? Rural communities, tribal nations, businesses and farms are Wisconsin’s strong backbone. The entire state takes pride in the beauty of our countryside, in our rural industries and workforce, and in […]

Are you interested in learning about and collecting data on the bee community pollinating vegetable blooms on your farm? The Gratton Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has a new smartphone app for growers to help collect data on wild bee pollination. The abundance and diversity of wild bee communities varies from farm-to-farm, making local data necessary for understanding […]

MFAI is hosting a FREE live virtual field day, Wednesday, August 5, 2020, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm (CST). MFAI’s Agroecologist and Agronomist are teaming up to share their 2020 field research! Agenda with Topics and Q&A time: 1:00 – 1:05 pm  Introduction MFAI Research Farm Tour 1:05 – 1:25 pm Soybean + Rye Interseeding […]

MFAI is the recipient of a $250,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Sustainable Agricultural Systems (SAS) program for perennial crop development efforts (see USDA’s announcement here: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDANIFA/bulletins/291fdfc). MFAI was a member of a diverse coalition of more than 15 institutions, including universities, NGOs, farmers, bakers, and governmental agencies throughout the […]

Do you enjoy being outside in the summer? Working with plants? Starting in July, we will be hiring. This is a temporary position with our Research Department. Our organic corn breeding program uses classic plant breeding and modern screening methods to develop alternative corn varieties that perform well in organic systems, have elevated levels of […]

The USDA is asking for the public’s opinions and suggestions about how best to transform agriculture to both increase production and reduce its impact on the environment.  The agency specifically sought input on four priority areas, but comments on other areas are also encouraged. MFAI’s Policy Director was invited by three groups – the National Sustainable […]

The School for Urban Agriculture (SUA) is a collaborative effort of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) and Farm and Industry Short Course (FISC), Rooted (formerly the Center for Resilient Cities and Community GroundWorks), and the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI). Back in 2018, MFAI was involved with SUA to assist […]

Or you’re already doing it? These courses are for you. The Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy & Livestock Farmers (WSBDF) has been providing educational opportunities to beginning/intermediate farmers in the Midwest for the past 25 years. WSBDF is there to help you get started, or continue, to farm. Here is a link directly to their […]