UW - Madison ag research. all across the state

“These are “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) - not Drones” - proclaimed Brian Luck of  the UW-Madison Biological Systems Engineering Department to the visitors seated on the three tractor drawn people movers. “And,” he continued,  “You will need to take an exam and pay $150 in order to use one for commercial purposes such as inspecting a soybean field for insects or diseases. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has just released a set of regulations outlining who and how UAVs can be used in your business.”

Although Luck was holding a drone - rather, a UAV - in his hand while talking to the crowd, he explained that although he is an expert, he couldn’t demonstrate it over the many research plots behind him because he “didn’t yet have a license.”

New technology

Luck was talking to about 75 visitors, mostly crop consultants and farm supply company representatives attending the recent Agronomy/Soils Field Day at the Arlington Ag Research Day north of DeForest.  They  were attending the afternoon tour centering on remote sensing in the field, broadly defined as “measuring an object or phenomenon by a device that is not in contact with the object under study,”

Two research studies at Arlington involving a tractor-mounted spectrometer aimed at obtaining information on soybeans to potentially get information on the chemistry and physiology  of soybean plants were discussed, as was the use of UAVs.

It’s the research

If this sounds complicated, it’s because it is and it’s very new.  That’s why UW researchers are studying it,  learning how to use the new technology and passing  the information on to crop farmers and their suppliers for their use.

It’s called research, something the UW-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) has been doing for well over 100 years with the results very evident in the 180 bushel corn, the 50 bushel soybeans, the near 23,000 pounds per cow milk production, new crop varieties and technology used on Wisconsin farms.

In early August I wrote about the 100-year anniversary celebration of the Hancock Ag Research Station and how its specialty work centers on vegetable and soybean research on 400 acres of Plainfield sand soil with 120 to 140 ongoing field projects.

And, how Paul Sytsma, Hancock ARS ag project supervisor, oversees the 12 full-time and several part-time workers at the station who work with the 120 to 140 ongoing field projects that are under the direction of  university faculty.

During the course of the day, I met Dwight Mueller, director of the UW Agricultural Research Stations, and learned a bit  about the on-campus research and the 11 outlying research stations facilities scattered across the state.  We vowed to get together at a later date and discuss the ag research program at length.  The Arlington Field Day presented that opportunity.

Eleven stations

Mueller, who has been Director of  Agricultural Research Stations (ARS) since 2007 explained that there are eleven off-campus agricultural research stations: Arlington, Hancock, Marshfield, Lancaster,  Peninsular (Door county), Kemp (Oneida county) Spooner, Rhinelander,  O.J. Noer (Madison),  West Madison and the USDA Forage Research Center (Prairie du Sac).

Arlington ARS, at just over 2,000 acres is the largest in size and is located on some of the state’s richest cropland and about 20 miles north of the UW-Madison campus.  It supports a wide ranging array of research projects conducted by  members of the CALS faculty.  It is also home to the 500-cow  dairy facility operated by the Dairy Science Department.

The first in 1909

The first UW off-campus research station was established in 1909 on 80 acres at Spooner, thus providing university scientists a place to work out their ideas under the unique conditions of northern Wisconsin.  Spooner also became a center for sheep research and for many  years has been the only dairy sheep research facility in North America, a distinction that will end on October 13th when the entire dairy sheep research flock  will be sold through an online computer auction.

The Marshfield - ARS operates 1,250 acres on two farm sites in Wood County and Marathon County.  Over fifty percent of Wisconsin’s dairy farms are located in the north central and northern Wisconsin area. Thus, dairy related research with emphasis on heifer rearing and management is the major focus at Marshfield, but extensive work done on field crops,  waste management, farm economics, and crop storage is also emphasized.

The Kemp Natural Resources Station in Oneida county is dedicated to research, instruction, and outreach concerning the management, conservation, and preservation of northern Wisconsin’s natural resources. Situated on the shores of Lake Tomahawk, the station supports a diverse wildlife population and some of the last remnants of old-growth forests in the Lake States

The Peninsular Agricultural Research Station near  Sturgeon Bay in the Door County Peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan has, because of its unique climate,  a major focus on producing, managing, and processing fruit crops.

Funds to do research

In 1887, Congress funded agricultural experiment stations to “to do research in areas of soil science an plant growth and to disseminate that information.”

The University of Wisconsin established its first agricultural experimental stations at Spooner and Madison (Hill Farm) in 1909, followed by the Marshfield station in 1912 and the Hancock station in 1916.

There were a number of UW-ARS facilities that have come and gone:  One, the Hill Farms ARS, that along with Spooner dated to 1909, was sold as a Madison sub division in the mid 1950’s and since has been the site of a shopping mall and residential area. The funds were used to purchase land for the proposed Arlington ARS; the Ashland Agricultural Research Station, which provided agricultural education to northern Wisconsin from its inception in 1911 until it was closed by the UW in 2006: and the Emmons Blaine Farm at Lake Mills where Professor Wilbur J. “Tip” Tyler conducted a pioneering series of studies on dairy cattle growth, milk production, reproductive function and producing high quality beef with Holstein steers.   In 1977,  CALS closed the Lake Mills facility and relocated the Blaine herd to the new facility at the Arlington

The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences also operates a number of research and instructional greenhouses under a centralized management system that is administered by the Agricultural Research Stations.

ARS director Mueller says there are about 120 full-time employees in the off campus research facilities, lots of part time workers especially during the planting and harvest seasons and the hundreds of faculty conducting the research.

A long road

It’s a long way from the thought to the project to the research to the completed new seed, fertilizer, service or technology  to the farmer,  the farm and finally the consumer.  The UW CALS extensive ag research station system provides the research space and facilities to get to the future whether it be new cover crops or UAVs.

For more info, got to ars.wisc.edu

John F. Oncken is owner of Oncken Communications,  He can be reached at 608-222-0624 or email him at jfodairy2@gmail.com.