Dairy Task Force 2.0 meeting set for around the state

MADISON – The nine sub-committees of the Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0 will meet again at various locations across the state in January and February to continue the Task Force’s work. All meetings are open to the public.

Gov. Scott Walker’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection formed the group earlier this year and dubbed it the 2.0 task force; it comes 33 years after the state’s first task force developed a plan to combat declining dairy production in the 1980s.

Now, the group is trying to figure out how to save dairy farmers, cheese producers and more amid hundreds of farm closures, stagnating prices and an overabundance of milk.

Meeting dates, times and locations are as follow:

Markets—10 a.m., Jan. 4; MacKenzie Center Badger Den, W7303 County Highway CS
Poynette.

Dairy and Rural Community Vitality—10 a.m., Jan. 7; WI State Patrol-Tomah Post,  23928 Lester McMullen Dr., Tomah

Consumer Confidence—10 a.m., Jan 8; WI State Patrol-Tomah Post, 23928 Lester McMullen Dr., Tomah.

Regulatory Certainty—10 a.m. Jan. 11; UW-Stevens Point, Dreyfus University Center, Rm. 378, 1015 Reserve Street, Stevens Point.

Generational Succession and Transition—10 a.m. Jan. 21; Hatch Public Library
Community Room, 111 W. State St., Mauston.

Access to Capital—12:30 p.m. Jan. 23; MacKenzie Center Badger Den, W7303 County Highway CS, Poynette.

Education and Workforce—12:30 p.m. Jan. 24; DATCP Board Room 106, 2811 Agriculture Dr., Madison.

Price Volatility and Profitability—10 a.m. Jan. 30; Northcentral Technical College
Center for Business and Industry, Room CBI-110, 1000 W. Campus Dr., Wausau,

Research and Innovation—10 a.m. Feb. 8; UW-Stevens Point, Dreyfus University Center, Rm. 378, 1015 Reserve Street, Stevens Point.

For more information on the Dairy Task Force 2.0, visit dairytaskforce.wi.gov or contact Ashley Andre at Ashley.Andre@wisconsin.gov.