Field Notes

BMPs of NMPs #6: On-Farm Nutrient Management Implementation in Southwestern WI

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 21:16:23 GMT

On the sixth and final episode of the BMPs of NMPs, Landon Baumgartner and Dan Smith discuss the trends that they have seen in their home area of southwestern Wisconsin's driftless area. They highlight the importance of farmer innovation, particularly in the area's steep slopes, in forwarding the goals of nutrient management, including no-till planting, cover crops, and variable rate applications. While emphasis on reducing phosphorus losses from soil runoff and manure management remain key in the area, new attention is being paid to nitrogen loading, especially with the proximity of the Mississippi River.

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BMPs of NMPs #5: Nutrient Management Planning and Soil Health

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 21:39:34 GMT

This fifth episode of the BMPs of NMPS offers a deep dive into the nuances of Nutrient Management Planning (NMP) and soil health, led by Chris Bandera and Jamie Patton. Emphasizing that while soil fertility is a core component of a high-functioning soil system, it is not synonymous with the broader concept of soil health. We’ll explore the critical role of context such as soil texture and climate in setting expectations for soil health indicators. Listeners will gain insight into how it's possible to have high fertility with poor soil function, and vice versa. We’ll discuss how to track progress on the soil health journey, highlighting the use of basic tools like observation and a shovel, alongside laboratory tests, and stressing the importance of establishing a good baseline for comparison over time.

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BMPs of NMPs #4: Soil and Land Feature Restrictions for 590 and CAFO Farms

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:09:53 GMT

In this fourth episode of the BMPs of NMPs, Hava Blair and Andrea Topper join host Landon Baumgartner to unpack how Wisconsin’s diverse soils and sensitive land features shape farming practices. They explore the unique challenges of regions like the Driftless Area, Central Sands, and Silurian bedrock zones, and explain common restrictions such as setbacks near water bodies, wells, and wetlands. The discussion highlights differences between 590 farms and CAFO operations, and introduces SnapPlus, Wisconsin’s free nutrient management planning software that helps farmers visualize soil types, sensitive features, and regulatory requirements on their own fields.

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BMPs of NMPs #3: Calculating Soil Erosion, PI, SCI, and Management Strategies

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 18:20:49 GMT

In episode three of the BMPs of NMPs, Landon Baumgartner discusses soil conservation and nutrient management with Hava Blair and Andrea Topper. They explain the use of the SNAP Plus software, which incorporates the RUSLE2 equation to calculate soil loss, considering critical and predominant soil types. The Phosphorus Index (PI) is also discussed, which estimates phosphorus loss in runoff, influenced by factors like crops, tillage, and soil erosion. Despite improvements in phosphorus management, there's still room for phosphorus reduction in water bodies. The conversation underscores the importance of software tools like SNAP Plus in planning and assessing conservation strategies.

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BMPs of NMPs #2: Wisconsin's 590 Nutrient Management Standard Today and Beyond

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 21:00:00 GMT

In the second episode of the BMPs of NMPs, Daniel Smith of UW-Madison Extension's Nutrient and Pest Management program and Sara Walling of Clean Wisconsin talk about the current and future status of of Wisconsin's 590 Nutrient Management Standard, adoption of these practices throughout the state, and our history of using the best available science to ensure farm profitability and sustainability. Looking beyond 2026, we discuss how a mix of nitrogen loss reduction, rural public health, and continued emphasis on phosphorus surface runoff will continue to motivate the future of conservation, leaning into Wisconsin’s unique investments in research, technology, programming, and tools that support them all.

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BMPs of NMPs #1: Introduction to Nutrient Management Planning

Wed, 12 Nov 2025 21:49:56 GMT

This is a special series from Field Notes produced with the help of the Nutrient and Pest Management (NPM) team at UW-Madison Extension and guest-hosted by Landon Baumgartner (Southwest Regional Outreach Specialist for NPM). Across six episodes, we dive into the fundamentals and best management practices (BMPs) of Nutrient Management Planning (NMP) in Wisconsin, so we couldn't help by calling the series the BMPs of NMPs.

On this first episode, Andrea Topper (DATCP Nutrient Management Outreach Specialist), and Chris Clark (Northeast Regional Outreach Specialist for the Nutrient and Pest Management Program), bring diverse perspectives on nutrient management from across the state. Whether you're new to nutrient management or looking to refresh your understanding, this episode offers a grounded, accessible entry point into the topic—perfect for farmers, educators, and conservation professionals alike.

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Sunflower Production in Wisconsin

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 20:08:29 GMT

In years of low commodity prices, most farmers think about where they might be able to cut costs. Some might begin to think about alternative crops can fit into row crop production. Enter the sunflower. From birdseed, to oilseed, and just looking dang pretty, sunflower production in the state remains miniscule compared to corn, soy, and wheat, but new crops like it can help farmers diversify income streams and reduce risk. So how do we grow them anyways? To find out, we talk with two farmers who also happen to be researchers/educators, Sam Bibby, farmer in Trempeleau County and Regional Crops Educator with UW Madison Extension in La Crosse, Vernon, and Crawford counties and Ben Brockmueller, farmer in South Dakota and Research Technician with Dr. Erin Silva's lab at UW Madison.

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Avoiding Dockages and Pushing Yield with Wheat

Thu, 01 May 2025 20:49:08 GMT

Before dairy, wheat was king in Wisconsin. Between 1840 and 1880, the state was largest wheat producer in United States, providing a full sixth of the nation's supply. Today, wheat is 5% of total grain crop (corn, soy, wheat) acres in the state. While there are benefits to having wheat in the rotation and a healthy local market for straw, a higher potential for dockages due to quality standards than corn or soy can be a deterrent for farmers. We talk with Charlie Hammer a farmer near Beaver Dam and independent crop consultant Bill Stangel of Soil Solutions Consulting about how they manage their significant wheat acreage in Dodge County to keep DON levels low and test weight high to meet grade and push yields.

Photo taken by Richard Hurd and under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

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Good Bugs and Planting Naked Seed

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 17:04:40 GMT

Treated seed is the default for planted soybean (60-80%) and especially corn (close to 100%) acres across the US. While there are certainly advantages to some seed treatments, especially fungicidal treatments for early planted soybeans, others like insecticidal seed treatments can have a negative effect on the beneficial insects--aka good bugs--that prey on major pests in agricultural fields. Some farmers in a bid to save some money and help out the beneficials have gone back to planting naked seed. To break it all down with chat with Dane Elmquist, a conservation cropping specialist with UW-Madison Extension and big fan of arthropods, and Tom Ripp, a no-till and cover cropping grain farmer just outside of Black Earth, who plants naked soybeans.

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Generational and Organic Farming Transitions

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:21:50 GMT

Transitioning a farm with the bumps and successes along the way. Darren Eichelkraut farms on a 50 cow organic dairy with his family, including his dad, Junior Eichelkraut, right next to 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.

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Doing On Farm Research

Mon, 23 Dec 2024 22:02:55 GMT

We talk quite a bit about on farm research results on Field Notes, so we thought it was high time to do an episode detailing the ins and outs of doing research on farms in Wisconsin. We dive into the details of asking the right question, trial design and logistics, and analysis with Ben Turzinski, a third-generation grain and vegetable farmer in Almond, WI in the Central Sand, and Monica Schauer, Research Director for Wisconsin's Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Projects program.

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Water Conservation in Cropping Systems

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:06:33 GMT

Excess water, drought, and water quality are frequent topics in Wisconsin’s agricultural community. We sit down with Mallika Nocco, assistant professor and extension specialist in agrohydrology from UW-Madison to discuss water conservation: What is it, why does it matter for Wisconsin farmers, and what are practical ways we can implement it on the landscape? Listen in now to hear all about it.

Photo: University of Wisconsin Discovery Farms

Follow Up Resources

UW-Madison Extension Ag Water Quality: https://agwater.extension.wisc.edu/

UW-Madison Extension Crop Irrigation:

https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/cropirrigation/

Find Your Local NRCS Service Center:

https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/conservation-basics/conservation-by-state/wisconsin

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A Farmer's Take on the Dollars and Sense of Conservation Agriculture

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 20:35:27 GMT

Much time has been spent on the environmental benefits of conservation agriculture. But, do practices like reduced tillage and cover crops pencil out for farmers, and how do we figure that out? In the second episode of this two-fer on the economics of conservation, we talk with Jake Kaderly, who works as a crop consultant under the name Kaderly Ag and farms 330 acres in Green County, for the farmer's take on how he pencils out conservation practices.

Jake's farm was profiled in an American Farmland Trust Soil Health Case Study that runs some of these numbers and is referred to in the episode. You can find the report here.

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An Economist's Take on the Dollars and Sense of Conservation Agriculture

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 20:24:50 GMT

Much time has been spent on the environmental benefits of conservation agriculture. But, do practices like reduced tillage and cover crops pencil out for farmers, and how do we figure that out? In the first episode of this two-fer on the economics of conservation, we talk with Jeff Hadachek, Extension Specialist and Assistant Professor of Ag Economics at UW-Madison, to get the economist's take on why economics is a useful tool when talking about conservation practices and adoption.

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Warm Season Annual Forages

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 19:48:03 GMT

From severe drought to flooded fields, Wisconsin’s forage producers are turning to forage species that can provide adaptability and flexibility in the midst of abnormal conditions. We jump in with Yoana Newman, UW-River Falls professor and Extension forage specialist, and Matt Oehmican, from Short Lane Ag Supply, to talk the details of warm season annual forages, from the decision-making process for growing these species to the unique technical agronomy management warm season annuals need to grow in Wisconsin. Are warm season annual forages a fit for your farm’s forage inventory?

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Dairy Heifer Grazing

Fri, 24 May 2024 22:06:04 GMT

Like gas and groceries, the cost of trucking and raising dairy heifers out West has gone up. Does this present Wisconsin farmers with an opportunity to lure these animals back to the state with low-input approaches and similar performance standards with well-managed grazing? We sit down with Jason Cavadini, UW-Madison Extension Grazing Outreach Specialist, and Mike Redetzke, a farmer custom-raising dairy heifers near Colby to discuss the nuts and bolts of getting confinement dairy operations in Wisconsin to put their heifers out on grass.

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Notes on Using the Haney Test in Wisconsin

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 18:35:39 GMT

Heard about the Haney test and want to learn more about how it might be used in Wisconsin? Listen in while we chat with leading UW researchers and outreach specialists Chris Bandura, John Jones, and Andrew Stammer on this topic. We dive in deep discussing how the Haney test can be used practically on-farm, how it calculates fertility recommendations differently than other soil tests, and what that means for Wisconsin cropping systems.

Photo by Chris Clark

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Specialty Grain Markets

Wed, 28 Feb 2024 19:00:59 GMT

Wisconsin infrastructure for grain markets and the ability to drop off grains at the nearest elevator incentivizes corn and soybean (and wheat to a lesser extent) rotations. Breaking outside that box and finding alternative grain markets can yield dividends in price premiums and extended crop rotations enhancing farm resilience to drops in commodity prices and other external shocks. We talk with Willie Hughes, an organic and conventional grain farmer in Rock County, and Alyssa Hartman of the Artisan Grain Collaborative about how they navigate finding, complying with and knitting together these differentiated markets.

Photo taken by Willie Hughes

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Grazing Cover Crops Interseeded into 60" Row Corn

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 16:50:58 GMT

Whereas most grain farmers with a livestock grow crops to feed their cattle, Jeff Gaska a farmer between Beaver Dam and Columbus in Dodge County is trying to grow his cattle to feed his crops. One of the ways he is moving towards this goal is by grazing cover crops interseeded into 60" row corn. We talk with Jeff about this system, the results that he has had over the last couple of years, especially with drought, as well as the approach to how he is determining if it is an economically viable practice for his farm.

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Cranberry Production

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 18:16:11 GMT

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Field Notes brings you an episode all about cranberries. Wisconsin's state fruit for a reason; we produce the majority of the world's supply, and who better to dig into the details, or the peat, than UW-Madison Extension Cranberry Outreach Specialist Allison Jonjak? We strap on our waders and hop into the bogs to talk about Wisconsin's production of this native, perennial vine and the unique environment and highly acidic soils in which they grow.

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Agroforestry

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 21:37:13 GMT

Surrounded by the peak autumn colors of Wisconsin, we thought we'd take a turn to talking about trees, specifically about integrating trees and crops in a system called agroforestry. We call up Jacob Grace of the Savanna Institute, a Wisconsin non-profit focused on promoting, educating, and breeding trees for agroforestry and Eric Wolske of Canopy Farm Management, which specializing in agroforestry installation, maintenance, and management, to chat about the many benefits of trees in cropland and some of the challenges.

Photo taken by Eric Wolske

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Drawing Down Soil Test Phosphorus

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 18:43:04 GMT

Field Notes reporting from the field, well, the bar. We sit down with Mark Keller of Kellercrest Holsteins of Mt. Horeb and Chelsea Zegler, Outreach Specialist with Extension's Ag Water Quality Program, at the Mt. Vernon Tap to talk phosphorus and how farmers can work to draw down excessive levels and save money in the meantime. Mark recounts the Pleasant Valley Watershed Project that worked with farmers in the area to adopt conservation practices like reduced tillage and cover crops for forage, which reduced soil test and water phosphorus levels by 40%, which meant big fertilizer savings. And Chelsea discusses pathways for phosphorus loss and ways to mitigate and keep the dollars in your fields.

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Farming + Solar = Agrivoltaics

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 21:09:29 GMT

There is a lot of solar being sited in Wisconsin with some projects reaching a pretty massive scale. The traditional narrative has been hello solar, goodbye agriculture, however a new crop of farmers, researchers, and solar companies are thinking differently: how can we continue to farm this land between, under, and around solar panels? Steffen Mirsky from Extension's Cutting Edge Podcast joins us as we talk with Sarah Moser, director of agrivoltaics with Savion, a utility-scale solar developer, and Eric Romich, Extension Field Specialist in Energy Development with the Ohio State University about their current and future projects investigating how to grow and mechanically harvest hay under solar in Ohio.

Photo taken by Tobi Kellner and used under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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Rotational Grazing in Drought

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 19:55:17 GMT

Drought affects pasture as well as crops. During these dry times, what are the considerations that graziers need to keep in mind to optimize forage, and what are the advantages that a rotationally grazed system gives us when we're short on water? We talk with Mary C Anderson, Wisconsin DNR Grazing Specialist, retired dairy farmer, and current grass-fed/finished beef farmer and Kevin Mahalko from the Gilman, WI area, a grass-fed dairy farmer and president of Grassworks.

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Strip Tillage

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 17:30:23 GMT

No digg-it-y. No doubt? On this episode of Field Notes we dig into the question: to till, or not to till, or somewhere in between? Strip tillage is not as common in Wisconsin as full width tillage or no till, but it presents an opportunity to reduce soil disturbance and improve soil aggregation, while also gaining some of the benefits of full width tillage like early season soil warming and fertilizer incorporation. To explore some of the benefits and logistics of the system, we talk with Dr. Francisco Arriaga, an Associate Professor and Soil Science Extension Specialist at UW Madison, who specializes in soil physics and soil management and Sam Johnson, a strip-tilling farmer near River Falls, Wisconsin.

Photo taken by Alan Manson and used under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

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Ag, Water, and Processing Vegetables

Mon, 24 Apr 2023 19:05:48 GMT

Guolong Liang, outreach specialist for the Agriculture Water Quality Program of Extension in the Central Sands of Wisconsin, guest hosts this episode of Field Notes. Guolong talks with UW-Madison Horticulture Professor and Extension Specialist Jed Colquhoun about the use of cover crops to reduce nutrient runoff in canning and processing vegetables. For the farmer perspective, he chats with John Ruzicka of Guth Farms in Bancroft, Wisconsin and Dylan Moore, a Seneca Foods Field Representative, about Guth Farm's journey in integrating no-till and cover crops into their processing vegetable rotations.

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Nitrogen Management and Climate Change

Fri, 31 Mar 2023 01:00:50 GMT

When we think of nitrogen leaving the fields, we often think of nitrates leached down to groundwater, but the mobility of nitrogen is not just downwards. Nitrogen can also leave the field and be lost to the atmosphere in the form of nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas. But this is no laughing matter. Nitrous oxide is almost 300 times as warming as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and 80% of our nitrous oxide emissions in Wisconsin come from agriculture. We talk with Diane Mayerfeld, the Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator with UW-Madison Extension to break down the science and discuss what farmers can do about it, and how it might have positive effects in their own operations.

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Frost Seeding Red Clover

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 18:39:44 GMT

March is mud month in Wisconsin. While this season may not be particularly pretty on the eyes, the freeze and thaw of the soil presents farmers with an opportunity to seed small-seeded plants like clovers into a fall-established wheat crop. The benefits are numerous: weed control, diversity, nitrogen for the following corn crop, forage and grazing opportunities. We cover it all with Jefferson County farmer Scott Schultz.

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Digital Agriculture

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:57:06 GMT

Data is the currency of the future. What does this look like for farmers? We sit down with Drs. Emily Bick, Extension-funded field and forage crop entomologist with University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Jim Eckberg, a scientist with General Mills, to find out. We talk on how sensors and imaging can help build back biodiversity and soils as well as how industry is working to spur the transition along.

Image adapted from USDA photo by Peggy Greb under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

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Evaluating Soil Health

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:45:57 GMT

Everyone is talking about soil health, so we thought we should too. We chat a bit about what exactly is soil health with Jamie Patton of UW-Madison's Nutrient and Pest Management program and Brendon Blank, a farmer and Byron Seeds rep from Ixonia, WI, and importantly, how do you measure progress?

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Bale Grazing

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:42:27 GMT

With winter on the horizon, ensuring that your bags, bunkers, and silos are full to brim is a ready solution for easing worries about winter feed supply. But, for some farmers, the solution to winter feeding and storage is out in the field. We talk bale grazing with Jason Cavadini who, in addition to being the state grazing specialist with Extension, grazes beef cattle near Marshfield and Lynn Johnson a farmer and grazing consultant with the Northwest Grazing Network.

View the Transcript

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Winter Cover Crops

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 14:53:34 GMT

As fall arrives, farmers turn to harvest. Once the dust settles, some fields lay bare while others show signs of life heading into winter. We talk with Kevin Shelley of UW-Madison's Nutrient and Pest Management program and Scott Carlson, a farmer in northwestern Wisconsin, about the benefits, challenges, and choices of planting winter cover crops.

View the Transcript

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Interseeding

Wed, 27 Jul 2022 21:39:56 GMT

In this, the first episode of Field Notes, we dive headlong into the practice of interseeding cover crops into standing corn, a practice becoming more and more popular in Wisconsin. To help us out, we talk with Anne Pfeiffer, program manager for UW-Madison's on-farm research research network, and Marty Weiss, a farmer in Dodge County and the vice-president of Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soils Healthy Waters farmer-led watershed group.

View the transcript

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Trailer

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:26:39 GMT

Two regional crops educators with UW-Madison Extension in Wisconsin combining our skills, knowledge, and experience to help farmers and agronomists develop research-based solutions to issues facing agriculture in Wisconsin.

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