This newsletter is co-written by your local UW-Madison Extension Ag Educators, Beth McIlquham (livestock) and Anastasia Kurth (crops and soils). 

Notes from your Regional Livestock Educator - Beth McIlquham 

-SAVE THE DATE: In partnership with Crawford Stewardship Project and Vernon County Land & Water, UW-Madison Extension will be putting together a workshop on Grazing Cover Crops. Join us at the Leum Farm in Vernon County on July 16. A special thank you to our partners and Ron Leum for the organizing of this event! More information to come. 

-Crossbreeding Can Benefit Cow-Calf Producers: Crossbreeding is overlooked as a tool that has many benefits for beef producers to improve herd productivity. A well-planned crossbreeding program leads to improvements in both the calf crop and the lifetime of momma cows compared to straight bred cows. To learn more about crossbreeding your cows, visit the UW-Madison Extension website. 

-Disease Digest: The UW-Madison Extension Livestock team has created a webpage that houses resources and information on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. To see where HPAI is affecting livestock in the U.S., use this interactive map. For a tighter focus on how it is affecting Wisconsin's poultry, check out this map. If you suspect avian flu, contact your veterinarian immediately. There have been no cases of New World Srewworm in the U.S., but more information can be found here. For animal owners of all kinds, please evalutate your biosecurity protocols.

Notes from your Regional Crops and Soils Educator - Anastasia Kurth

While May started off on a soggy note, we received less than normal precipitation overall. Planting is mostly complete across the state! First cut alfalfa has also been taken off the field. Weather predictions are calling for a warmer and wetter June. Take advantage of the warmer weather to get out in your fields and scout. If you are seeing something interesting or of concern in your field, let the Extension office or educator know to see how we can help.  

As pesky insects are making an appearance, stay alert with insect pest text alerts from the Bick Lab at UW. Also, check out the DATCP Pest Survey for black cutworm and true armyworm moth counts. 

Make sure to tune into Badger Crop Connect for timely crop season updates and research. These webinars occur on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. You can also watch recordings on the webpage. 

Badger Crop Network launches to combine the specialist websites of Shawn Conley, Damon Smith, Rodrigo Werle, and Harkirat Kaur. 

Preliminary Wisconsin custom rates for 2025 are available here. Data is still being collected. If you have numbers to contribute, please take the survey at the bottom of the page.  

Taking PEAQ (predictive equations for alfalfa quality) stick measurements of first crop alfalfa. 

This series will focus on impactful diseases in the pork industry and are aimed at providing producers and industry personnel with information they need to deal with and/or prevent them on their farm.

With cattle prices at all-time highs, forward-thinking cattle feeders and backgrounders will be doing some calculations to determine what they can pay for feeder calves, and/or what they should forward contract them for.

Deworming is beneficial for beef and dairy operations, provided it is done correctly with effective products. However, due to anthelmintic resistance, relying solely on dewormers is insufficient.

These pasture walks are free, informative, and a great way to join a growing group of graizers learning together.

Please check out these surveys and contribute any information you have. Thank you! 

Beth McIlquham 

Regional Livestock Educator

Email: beth.mcilquham@wisc.edu

Phone: (608) 632-0599

Anastasia Kurth

Regional Crops and Soils Educator

Email: anastasia.kurth@wisc.edu

Phone: 608-477-3018

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