Wisconsin Life

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Marshfield Agricultural Research Station has a strong legacy of conducting research that directly impacts local farmers and communities. The research station is over 100 years old. We were established in March of 1912. The original site is in the city of Marshfield. Fast forward to 1999. The site that we're standing on now in Stratford, Wisconsin, was acquired through an effort to propel the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station into a site that more accurately reflected where the dairy industry was going. So, tell us about some of the current research efforts that are underway here. The focus is primarily on the growth and development of dairy heifers. The USDA component of our facility is looking at nutrient management, the application of nutrients to the field, and my colleague Jason Cavadini, he is managing the agronomy program of our-- of what we do here.

Angela

To learn more, I found Jason where I'd expect to find an agronomist, out in the fields. In this area in Central Wisconsin an agronomist, especially, is focused on producing forages for feeding livestock. So, tell us how does that connect to cow grazing? So, grazing, we say, is a soil and water conservation practice, like the gold standard of all conservation practices, because its foundation is perennial crops. So when we talk about cover crops, we're talking about keeping that land covered with green living material between harvest and planting, so it's constantly feeding the soil. Now more than ever, we're focusing on the societal aspect of our decisions on the farm. The responsibility of us, the responsibility of the farmers, to farm in a way that society sees as acceptable, that communities see as acceptable.

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Angela

It's time for me to leave the field and head to the milk parlor to try milking for the first time.

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Angela

Oh, oh, there you go! From dairy production to cover crops, Nancy Esser says the work here is important. I think what's most special about the research station is that we are part of the University of Wisconsin. We're Madison, we're campus. We all work for Bucky.

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Angela

We're right here in Central Wisconsin. We have a lot of foot traffic. We not only fulfill the research needs of scientists, but we're an outreach facility. We're owned by the public. We work for the public. We work to advance agricultural knowledge, and science, and the industry.