Monday - Thursday 9:00 am until 2:00 pm.  Closed on Friday.

The bright yellow, orange and red colors of autumn leaves are one of nature’s most beautiful spectacles.  Although a familiar annual event, much of our understanding of autumn leaf coloration has, until recently, been based primarily on random observation and speculation.  Recent research has done much to explain the functions of this phenomenon.  Find out why...

If you have trees dropping leaves on your lawn grass, in many cases there is no need to incur blisters by raking them up. Leaves have nutrients, which can be recycled into your lawn.  Learn more...

When selecting plants for landscaping, consider choosing ones that offer showy fall foliage. This beautifully illustrated 38-page publication provides an extensive (though by no means comprehensive) list of commercially available woody plants that offer spectacular fall color.

Why prune shrubs?  Pruning is important for a variety of reasons.  Pruning can help control the size of a shrub, direct growth, influence flowering or fruiting, rejuvenate old, overgrown plants, or maintain plant health and appearance.  Full Article

Getting along with other people is an essential skill for elementary kids. Parents and teachers can have fun using videos and games to teach kids about caring for others. Articles and Videos in English and Spanish, online and PDF format: 

Learn About Your Land is a UW-Madison Extension Forestry program intended for Wisconsin woodland owners. The series of classes introduces landowners to forestry topics and local DNR foresters. These classes will be held in person in Sturgeon Bay, WI in October. All classes will run 1.5 hours with the last 30 minutes reserved for YOUR QUESTIONS. Registration is $30 per person for all three sessions.

GET TO KNOW YOUR LOCAL TREES AND INVASIVE SPECIES
October 2nd, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

PEOPLE, PROGRAMS, AND PLANNING: ASSISTANCE WITH YOUR WOODLANDS
October 9th, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

HOW TO INVITE WILDLIFE TO YOUR WOODLAND
October 16th, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM

The Little Harbor launch wasn’t a muscular ship. Measuring nearly 30 feet in length, the boat paled in comparison to the hundred-foot steam-powered vessels ferrying lumber and coal across Lake Michigan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But this little boat, wrecked off the coast of Door County and newly listed on the National Register of Historic Places, can tell us a lot about the history of one of Wisconsin’s favorite vacation spots.  Read more...

Wisconsin Sea Grant, headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a statewide program of basic and applied research, education, outreach and technology transfer dedicated to the stewardship and sustainable use of the nation’s Great Lakes and ocean resources.  

The waters of Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin’s largest inland lake, were once teeming with wild rice – so abundant that historical accounts describe boats struggling to pass through the beds. Over the last 200 plus years, increased populations, shoreline development, and dams have stripped much of Lake Winnebago of this treasured resource. But through research initially funded by Wisconsin Sea Grant, the Lake Winnebago Wild Rice Revitalization team aims to restore wild rice beds.  Learn more and watch the video.

All forgotten fair projects and ribbons were collected and taken to the UW Extension-Door County office at 421 Nebraska St. in the County Government building 2nd floor.  Please stop by and pick them up at your earliest convenience.

Enrollment is now open for the 2025-2026 4-H year for both youth members and adult volunteers.  All enrollments (and re-enrollments) will be done using the 4HOnline enrollment website: https://wi.4honline.com.   If you are re-enrolling, you will log in using the email and password from this past year.  See the Enrollment Guide on our website for more details on signing up for Door County    4-H!  https://door.extension.wisc.edu/joining-4-h/.  Don't wait - be sure to enroll today to make sure that you do not miss out on any important information or fun!

Updated 4-H Project Guide:  A new and improved 4-H Project Guide is now available!  The Project list has been condensed to make it easier to choose your 4-H projects.  The new Project Guide can be found here:  https://4h.extension.wisc.edu/opportunities/projects/4-H.    If you have questions about the changes or need help identifying your projects, please be sure to reach out to Candis Dart at candis.dart@wisc.edu.  

We are launching a 4-H Military Club that will be chartered out of Brown County!

Starting September 15, we are going to start enrollment for this new Club, which will be made up of youth specifically from families who have at least one parent or guardian who is currently on deployment.  

The first meeting is scheduled for Saturday, October 25th and will take place at the STEM Innovation Center in Green Bay on the UW-Green Bay Campus.  Please reach out to Jon Hill or Carlea Liermann with any questions regarding this Club.

Check out our website for the latest 4-H newsletter, events and opportunities.  

All About Farm Leasing will answer questions that landowners, tenants, or other interested individuals have about leasing farmland.  Topics include setting a rental rate, land management considerations, legal risks associated with leases, strategies for effective communication with tenants and landowners, terminating an agricultural lease, and miscellaneous topics in agricultural leasing.  

Training will be held on October 21, 2025, from 6 PM- 8 PM at the Manitowoc County Office Complex located at 4319 Expo Drive, Manitowoc.  Register

Wisconsin has led the nation in corn silage production for decades, harvesting approximately 800,000 acres annually. While alfalfa has been widely accepted as the “Queen” of the Forages, there should be no doubt about who is the “King”. Corn silage enables us to harvest more Milk Per Acre (MPA) (dry matter (DM) yield X Milk Per Ton (MPT) = MPA), than any other forage crop grown statewide.  Complete Article

Recent advancements in dairy farming technology are enhancing efficiency, animal welfare, and farm management through precision livestock technologies, automation, and data integration.

Dr. Victor Cabrera, Dairy Systems Management Extension Specialist and Professor at UW-Madison, and Gustavo Mazon, Postdoctoral Research Associate at UW-Madison, discuss new technology adoption on dairy farms along with providing an update on the Smart Farm Hub.  Watch the Video

To help Wisconsin Spanish dairy workers and the Spanish dairy community to get the most current and update research information, UW- Madison Division of Extension in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension has developed the Dairy Spanish Webinar El “Break” Info-Lechero 2025. 

This webinar is an update on different dairy topics covering hoof health, data management, animal welfare, animal nutrition, farm management, environment and more.

Join us every Wednesday in September, October, and November month from 2pm – 3pm CST for these webinars that will take place in Spanish only.  Information and Registration

The Local Government Leadership Academy (LGLA) is a nine-month, cohort-based program and includes a blend of in-person workshops, virtual sessions, online self-study, and goal setting to help local government leaders develop professionally while also contributing to the improved capacity of their local government. As leaders apply skills learned, they create intra-agency improvements (e.g. improved staff morale, strategic decision-making, and clarity of purpose) that will ultimately improve the overall functioning of local governments as organizations, and thus their capacity to provide quality services to Wisconsin communities. Information and Registration

Covering Wisconsin (CWI) provides free, expert help to anyone in Wisconsin to understand, access, use, and keep health insurance. CWI Health Insurance Navigators are available year-round and throughout the state to help with Medicaid, BadgerCare Plus, and HealthCare.gov enrollment or figuring out the best coverage option. They can also help with applications for charity care programs and appeals, as well as answer health insurance questions. CWI’s mission is to ensure that every Wisconsinite can access, understand, and use the most appropriate, affordable, and comprehensive health insurance available to them, so they can get the care they need.  More Information

UW Madison was recently named a ‘Best Value’ college by The Princeton Review and Money Magazine, and the Center for World University Rankings now places us #30 in the world, out of more than 21,000 universities.

09.16.2025 Corn Silage Dry Down Results for Sturgeon Bay

Fruit Crop Scouting Report: September 10, 2025

It is that time of year where we will see silage choppers working the 2025 corn crop. This means it is time to understand overall crop health and how diseases might be affecting the crop so that you can make the best silage product you can. Read full article!

Bambara groundnut (Vigna subteranea) is a drought tolerant, annual legume native to sub-Saharan African. Bambara groundnut is the third most important legume in Africa, behind the peanut and cowpea. Similar to the peanut, plants begin to form pods underground from the ends of “pegs” that drill their way into the soil after pollination. The pods are very hard, round, wrinkled and contain 1-2 seeds.  Is this legume headed to the Midwest find out more!

Packing the kids’ lunches for school means you know which nutritious foods they are eating. Here are some budget-friendly, creative ideas to keep kids happy and healthy at lunchtime.  Start Here

The Big Apple Project is funded by the West Foundation, Inc. to support a food recovery initiative transporting low-cost fresh apples from the Door County Peninsular Research Station to food pantries and nonprofit organizations across Door, Kewaunee, and Manitowoc Counties.  FoodWIse sought the grant funding to purchase equipment necessary for harvest, and two Manitowoc-based organizations, Grow it Forward and Sullivan Family Farm, agreed to transport the apples, dropping off at various participating sites.

For the Research Station, this project helps distribute food grade apples to people who want to eat them.  Prior to this project, the station manager Becky Wiepz said that many apples were simply sold for deer bait because the station had no capacity to market or distribute them.  Because the Big Apple Project sought to provide apples to food pantries, Wiepz sold the apples for the same price as she was paid for deer apples, $6 per bushel.  Initially, FoodWIse coordinator Laura Apfelbeck hoped that 5 food pantries would be involved. In the first week of distribution, we hit that goal.  Pantry managers purchased 20 bushels of apples or roughly 800lbs and we distributed the fruit to 5 pantries: Kewaunee County Food Pantry in Algoma, Lakeshore Community Pantry in Kewaunee, First Presbyterian Community Meals Program in Manitowoc, Peters Pantry of Manitowoc, and Grow it Forward of Manitowoc.

All felt the $6 fee was workable for them despite limited budgets because the current price per bushel wholesale is more than $40. Since the refrigerated trucks have capacity to transport two macro bins (40 bushels, 1600lbs), Apfelbeck contacted other nonprofits in the communities to find out if they might be interested in apples, even those who said no the first time we checked. As a result, our distribution list for Week 2 includes all of the same pantries as Week 1 plus Manitowoc-Two Rivers YMCA early childhood center, Manitowoc Boys & Girls Club, and the Two Rivers School District. All of these serve low-income families that are low income. For October, we already have Door County pantries lined up--two main pantries in Sturgeon Bay will serve as drop sites so that 7 small area food pantries can pick up their bushel of apples from a central location. These small pantries do not have budgets to accommodate fresh produce purchases or staff able to pick apples or carry large bushels & bags, so the central drop site works well for them. The Door Co Food Pantry Coalition voted to cover the cost of the apples.

This project will continue through the end of October.  Already we have plans in place to use the procedures created for the Big Apple Project to secure other unsold fresh produce from local farmers and transport it to families who can use it.

Photo of apples harvested at the Peninsular Research Station taken by Rebecca Wiepz

A new study co-authored by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor finds that life expectancy gains made by high-income countries in the first half of the 20th century have slowed significantly, and that none of the generations born after 1939 will reach 100 years of age on average.  Full Article

The Great Lakes Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Regional Center (ROTA-RC) is funded by SAMHSA to develop and disseminate training and technical assistance addressing opioid and stimulant use affecting rural communities in Il, IN, MI, MN, OH, and WI.  Find Out More...