PROGRAM AREAS

	Agriculture
	Community Development
	Family Living
	Horticulture
	Nutrition Education
	4-H Youth Development

OFFICE RESOURCES

OTHER RESOURCES

	Marathon County Government
	InfoSource
	UWEX Cooperative Extension
	UWEX Publications

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2008 Outstanding Young Farmer & Century Farmer Recipients Named

Each year the Marathon County Agricultural Society coordinated jointly by the UW-Extension and the PPA, a committee of the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce, recognizes the efforts of local farm producers. The Century Farm Awards program recognizes those who have maintained farm ownership for 100 years or more. The Outstanding Young Farmer Award recognizes achievements in farming career, community, and conservation. Awardees were recognized at the Annual Farm City Dinner, Wausau on March 14, 2008. View 2008 OYF and Century Farm award recipients >>>

Marathon County Farmers Honored in National “Small Farm” Award Competition

Mark and Dawn Mroczenski operate a small dairy grazing operation in the heart of central Wisconsin. Their farm was recently nominated from Wisconsin and placed third in the national Lloyd Wright Small Farmer of the Year Award. The Mroczenskis were nominated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Wisconsin. Watch the video: low-bandwidth | high-bandwidth | Read the full USDA/NCRS press release >>> (3 pages, 84 KB)

Biosecurity Recommendations for Agriculture

The fact that Pseudorabies has been confirmed in a neighboring county has made biosecurity issues timely again, but taking necessary precautions should be a part of every producer's everyday routine. UW Extension and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection have created several articles with recommendations for Wisconsin's dairy and livestock farmers. Read more about the biosecurity recommendations >>>

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

The law prescribes when a fence is required, how responsibility for a fence is divided, what a legal fence is and how to resolve disputes between property owners. As growth occurs in rural areas, residential and agricultural uses may come into conflict. Knowing and applying the fence law can help reduce conflicts. Fact Sheet - Fences in Agricultural Areas (6 pages, 23 KB)

Agribusiness Incubator Project Update

“The Agribusiness Incubator Project provides opportunities, processes and resources that facilitate the entry of new farmers and farm businesses into the agricultural community of North Central Wisconsin”. That is the draft mission statement of a new venture that started in Marathon and Lincoln Counties last October called the Agribusiness Incubator Project. For more information about Agribusiness Incubator Project >>>

Understanding Runoff Management and Regulations

Runoffinfo.uwex.edu provides information and resources to help local governments and farmers effectively manage polluted runoff from agricultural practices, storm water drainage and non-point sources (pollution not identified as caused by a specific source) in Wisconsin. For additional information and runoff pollution resources >>>

Improving Milk Quality -- The Team Approach

In collaboration with the UW-Madison Dairy Science Department, dairy producers can form a "Milk Money Team" to improve milk quality on their own farm. A recent evaluation of participation herds shows an average decrease in bulk tank Somatic Cell Count (SCC) of over 70,000 cell over a 4-month period. "Milk Money" is farm advisers working together. For more information about the team approach >>>

Compost Barn Tours Held in Minnesota

A compost bedded pack barn tour was held in East Central Minnesota on July 18th. Sam Zimmermann, Northern WI Dairy Educator had the opportunity to tour these compost facilities with Maria Bendixen, UW-Extension Ag Educator. This was an interesting and educational tour. Learn more about the compost barn tours, including images >>>

Conserving Energy on the Farm

Harvesting milk requires up to 70 percent of the total electricity used on an average Wisconsin dairy farm. Our new series on Energy Conservation in Agriculture by Scott Sanford focuses on low-cost ways to reduce energy consumption and save money. See the complete series listing >>>

Ginseng Capital Of The USA

The “unofficial capital” of the US ginseng industry is Marathon County. Information on ginseng products, marketing, research, history and benefits is available at the Ginseng Board website. Established in 1982, this non-profit organization represents all WI ginseng growers.

Organic Milk Production Draws More Interest

The market for organic products is growing rapidly. The University of Wisconsin 's Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS) has collected information and published fact sheets on organic dairy topics. For more details, log onto the PATS website and check out the section on "Organic and rBST milk in the marketplace." You'll find more organic farming info among the agriculture related website links.

Off-season and archived AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS are available >>>