For a wide variety of economic, environmental and social reasons, it makes good sense to regard the practice of managed grazing as an effective system for strengthening dairy and livestock farming in Wisconsin. The UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS) partnered with GrassWorks, Inc. to develop a statewide, participatory discussion about managed grazing that they called “Blue Sky Greener Pastures” (BSGP). Funded by the UW-Madison Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, the objective of the project was to generate new initiatives and imaginative ideas (Blue Sky) to extend managed grazing and its benefits (Greener Pastures) to more producers, businesses, educators, consumers and communities.

This report synthesizes the discussions from the BSGP regional listening sessions. The analysis is organized around six recurring themes: education for established graziers, education for beginning and transitioning farmers, networking, research, marketing and policy.