Extension Information Kiosk Now Available for Public Use
The Iowa County Extension Office is excited to announce the addition of an Information Kiosk to the lobby area of our office. This computer is available at no charge to the public for Extension-related use, including accessing the Extension Iowa County website, registering for 4-H or other 4H Online activities, signing up for ag programs, submitting questions to the “Ask Your Gardening Question” site, access to the UW-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, and much more!
We hope this will be a useful tool for those with limited or no Internet accessibility at home, allowing them to take advantage of Extension programming.
Pesticide Applicator Training Information
There are some important changes to the Pesticide Applicator Training (PAT) program for 2024. Visit our Pesticide Applicator Training page here to learn all of the details!
Badger Dairy Insight Series
Join the University of Wisconsin-Madison – Division of Extension’s Dairy Program on the third Tuesday of each month from 11am-12 pm CST for the Badger Dairy Insight webinar series. New this year, we are switching our webinars to a monthly platform. We are featuring your local Extension Dairy Program Educators and UW Specialists as they present on current dairy topics. Take the opportunity to learn from and discuss with experts on the dates below. To learn more about Badger Dairy Insight and the Extension Dairy program please visit https://dairy.extension.wisc.edu
May 21st: Heat Stress in Calves
Understanding the carryover effects of early-life heat stress on dairy calves with Jimena Laporta, Assistant Professor of Lactation Physiology
Heat stress, a prevalent challenge in modern dairy farming, has been shown to have far-reaching consequences on young calves’ health, well-being, and productivity; even before they are born. This presentation will explore how heat stress affects the physiological, behavioral, and developmental aspects of calves during their critical early stages of life and highlight the long-lasting implications that persist into adulthood. Additionally, this presentation will discuss potential strategies to alleviate the detrimental impacts of heat stress on dairy calves, including housing management interventions.
Strategies for keeping calves cool in hutches with Jennifer Van Os, Dairy Animal Welfare Extension Specialist, Assistant Professor
In this brief presentation, Jennifer Van Os will continue some of the themes from Dr. Laporta’s presentation, specifically discussing collaborative work at UW-Madison to identify practical strategies for alleviating heat stress in hutch-housed dairy calves.
June 18th: Updating our thinking about corn silage and alternative forages
Cover crops, alternative crops- how well do they feed? By Matt Lippert, Dairy Educator Wood and Clark Counties
Extension gathered samples of forages at harvest and after fermentation and visited with producers about their experiences with some of the forages that today are being used in addition to corn silage and alfalfa. These feeds included winter cereals such as rye and triticale, warm season grasses such as sorghum-sudangrass and annuals including Italian ryegrass and mixtures with legumes. These crops fill many agronomic and conservation niches, but how well can they be utilized to feed lactating dairy cows. Results are variable but many opportunities exist.
MILK 2024 – what’s new? By Luiz Ferraretto, Dairy Nutrition Specialist
Differences in nutrient composition and digestibility among corn hybrids have the potential to impact energy content of corn silage and ultimately influence dairy cow production. From the perspective of maximizing nutritive value, energy predictions of corn silage can be useful to aid producers in selecting hybrids. The MILK index was developed to predict the energy content (milk/ton) and energy yield (milk/acre) of forages. This presentation will discuss the novel aspects of the newest iteration of the MILK model.
Badger Dairy Insight
There is no charge to participate in the sessions, however pre-registration is required to allow access. Register online at go.wisc.edu/bdi2324
Updated Website for all of your Food Preservation Needs
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is thrilled to announce the launch of their new website on March 1st, 2024. You can access it at https://nchfp.uga.edu. This is the place to go for the answers to all of your food preservation questions as well as advice, information, etc. If you work with canning, pickling, fermenting, freezing, drying, curing & smoking, storing, or making jams & jellies, you should definitely bookmark this site!
Extension Horticulture & Gardening Resources for You
Do you have a question relating to horticulture or gardening? Iowa County does not have a dedicated Horticulture Educator, but the UW-Madison Division of Extension does have an online form that you can fill out. Simply provide basic contact information and ask your question, and your inquiry will be responded to by an Extension staff member or a Master Gardener Volunteer in your area. You can even upload up to three photos to submit with your question!
A link to the online submission page is located to the right (scroll down to where it says “Ask a Gardening Question” and click on the “W” shield logo underneath it). Click here for an instruction sheet that details how to fill out and submit the online form.
Click here for Covid-19 Resources
Latest News from Extension Iowa County
Join us for the StrongBodies Program! StrongBodies has been shown to increase strength, muscle mass, and bone density. Classes are held twice weekly and include progressive resistance training, balance training, and flexibility exercises. Dates: October 10 through December 21 Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 – 10:15 am How to Sign Up: Register online at https://go.wisc.edu/6693j7 […]
Ross DeWitt, Iowa and Lafayette Counties Forester, is hosting a series of Learn About Your Land webinars. These classes cover many topics relevant to woodland owners. All sessions will go from 6-7:30pm. Space is limited, so pre-registration is necessary. Registration fee is $15 per person, which includes all three webinars. Attendees must register by September […]
Join the University of Wisconsin-Madison – Division of Extension’s Dairy Program on the third Tuesday of each month from 11am-12 pm CST for the Badger Dairy Insight webinar series. New this year we are switching our webinars to a monthly platform. We are featuring your local Extension Dairy Program Educators and UW Specialists as they […]
Planning AHEAD is a 7-session course (one hour each) that guides participants through the topics of handling financial changes, advance medical and legal directives, estate planning, choices in end-of-life care, final wishes, and understanding grief. This course features a free workbook to help people with the tasks and decisions associated with end-of-life planning. This program […]
UW-Madison Division of Extension and the UW NPM program are sponsoring an educational workshop focused on Palmer amaranth identification, prevention, and control in WI grain cropping systems. The workshop will take place at Woodworth Organic Farms (15556 Cty Rd W, Shullsburg, WI 53586). Workshop Highlights: Identification of Palmer amaranth, characteristics of this plant, risk of […]
