Soil health, surveys, and economic tools

Fresh off the digital presses this month are several articles and surveys related to soil health, economics, and risk management. Read below and visit our website to learn more.

- Extension Crops and Soils Team

Soil Health in Wisconsin: Characteristics of Healthy Soil

This article highlights the characteristics of healthy soil and describes how these characteristics, and soil health generally, can contribute to sustainable crop production and indirectly impact society beyond the farm field.

UW Crop Enterprise Budget Tool Helps Evaluate Final Planting and Management Decisions for the 2025 Growing Season

Agronomic field crop budgets for both grain and forage enterprises commonly grown and harvested in Wisconsin have been updated for 2025 and are available for download. Unfortunately, as farmers and agricultural professionals are aware, commodity prices are down, and input costs continue to rise as the planting season draws nearer. The UW Crop Enterprise Budget Tool can be used to help make decisions on those final flex acres or evaluate the impact in-season management decisions may have on the overall profit potential of this year’s crops.

CCA Board Nomination Results

Thank you to everyone who provided nominations in the recent Wisconsin CCA Board election. The Wisconsin CCA Board did not pursue a member vote for the 2025 election, as there were three open positions and three nominations.

On-behalf of the election process I would like to welcome Paul Sytsma, Kelsi Mueller, and Kelly Verhaalen to the WI CCA Board. They are eligible to serve two, three- year terms on the board. All WI CCA’s in good standing status are eligible for nomination. The next call for board nominations will be in early 2026.

Soybean and Soil Health Study

A great deal of research has been conducted on soil health in soybean systems including some recent work by UW Bean Team member, Lindsay Malone. Our goal is to build off this research by focusing on cover crops and their relationship with soil health. For this project, soil samples that you collect and ship to us will be analyzed using several soil health measures in addition to routine analysis.

Creating New Opportunities for Wisconsin Farmers Through the UW Emerging Crops Team and WI Emerging Crops Coalition

The UW Emerging Crops Team and the WI Emerging Crops Coalition was formed in 2022 with the goal of hastening development of a portfolio of promising new (and old) crops including: hazelnuts, hemp, hops, fiber flax, winter camelina, table grapes, honeyberry, elderberry, aronia, currants, and culinary grains. Each of these crops has its own unique set of challenges that require targeted actions to overcome.

This Strategic Plan outlines key development priorities to advance each crop based on extensive input and analysis from early-adopter growers and stakeholders working to develop the crop.

Managing Alfalfa Insect Regional Survey

In 2023, a grazing farmer network in northwestern Wisconsin was asked to identify the greatest needs for research. At the top of their list was the practice of winter bale grazing. We designed a research project that sought to answer some of their questions about the practice.

DATCP Announces Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program Grant Recipients

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced that nine projects are receiving grant funding for the 2025 Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program (NOPP). These grants aim to refine and enhance the understanding of new methods that optimize commercial nitrogen applied to agricultural fields, helping to protect vital soil and water resources.

Watch: Focus on Forage

Missed our annual four-part forage webinar series? No worries. Watch Focus on Alfalfa Companions, Focus on Corn Silage, Focus on Forage Cover Crops, and Focus on the Alfalfa Toolbox on-demand. 

Listen: Generational and Organic Farming Transitions

Darren Eichelkraut farms on a 50 cow organic dairy with his family, including his dad, Junior Eichelkraut, outside of 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.

Our Farm Management program has been hard at work compiling resources and creating tools to help you compare risk management options, cover cropping and soil health decisions, and more. Explore a curated list of tools below. 

We are conducting a survey to estimate custom rates for common Wisconsin farming operations and we need your help. Hiring custom operations is an important part of modern farming, but determining fair rates to charge can be challenging. To help meet this need, we are conducting this survey and will publish a short report summarizing our findings on typical custom rates for Wisconsin. The link below takes you to an online survey.

If you are a farmer or a custom operator who performed or hired custom services in 2024, please click the link below to the survey and complete the sections that pertain to you. The survey asks about rates for tillage; planting and seeding; fertilizer and chemical application; manure services; grain harvesting, hauling and drying; silage, haylage, and hay services; and tractor and machinery rental. 

As a token of our appreciation, those who complete the survey with valid responses will be entered into a raffle for one of ten Fleet Farm and/or Cabela’s gift cards for $100. Participants will be asked to provide their contact details at the end of the survey for the raffle. Read more and take the survey here.

Field Notes

Will Fulwider, Regional Crops Educator, hosts Field Notes, where specialist guests, farmers, and industry reps collaborate with them to combine their skills, knowledge, and experience to help farmers and agronomists develop research-based solutions to issues facing agriculture in Wisconsin. Subscribe where you listen to podcasts or check out the episodes here!

The Cutting Edge

Join the UW-Madison Division of Extension as they search for new crops for Wisconsin growers, processors, and consumers on The Cutting Edge. The strength of Wisconsin’s agricultural economy is its diversity…something that doesn’t just happen by chance. It is a product of the relentless drive of researchers and farmers to innovate, explore, and experiment. Join us for a glimpse into the exciting new research and development bringing new crops and diversity to Wisconsin. Subscribe where you listen to podcasts or check out the episodes here!

Badger Crop Connect Webinar Series

Second and fourth Thursdays from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. beginning April 10

The Badger Crop Connect series provides agronomists, crop consultants, and farmers with timely crop updates for Wisconsin. Webinars take place all season long, from April through October. CCA CEUs are available by topic for each presentation.

Conducting Effective On-Farm Research Webinars: Opportunities and Findings

March 27 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. live via Zoom

Whether you’re new to or experienced with on-farm research, this three-part webinar series has something for everyone! Join UW-Madison Extension as we explore fundamentals in on-farm research (Feb. 27), technology considerations (March 13), and on-farm research findings and opportunities (March 27).

OGRAIN Spring Workshop: Reducing Tillage in Organic Dairy

April 16 from 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Viroqua

For more information, please visit the OGRAIN website. Our speakers will share the latest research on reducing tillage in organic corn, equipment for minimizing tillage in organic, tips to help with organic certification, and crop rotation recommendations. We’ll leave ample time for discussion, so bring your questions!

Wisconsin Vegetable Crop Update Newsletter

Veggie producers, sign up to receive tailored updates from the UW–Madison Departments of Plant Pathology, Entomology, Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences, and Soil and Environmental Science. 

Sign up by contacting Dr. Amanda Gevens.

Wisconsin Fruit News

Fruit producers, sign up to receive tailored updates from the UW–Madison Fruit Program. Sign up and read more here.

Field Notes - DATCP's Pest Survey Program Newsletter

Sign up to receive pest monitoring data and maps, current articles on economically important plant pests affecting Wisconsin's field crops, fruits, vegetables, nurseries, and forests. Sign up on DATCP's website or read newsletters on the web here.  

UW–Madison Division of Extension Crops and Soils Program

Find articles, resources, educational events and more at cropsandsoils.extension.wisc.edu

Partially supported by National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Crop Protection and Pest Management-Extension Implementation Program award number 2024-70006-43559.

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