The vast majority of dairy cattle in the United States never see the outdoors while they’re lactating. Over 50% of the milk produced in
the US comes from just 1750 large farms, primarily in California, Idaho, New Mexico, and Texas. In contrast, about 22% or more than 3000 of Wisconsin’s dairy farmers use managed grazing. Can the unique features of milk from pastured cows contribute to the resurgence of an artisan dairy tradition?

The Wisconsin Grazing Activities Resource List (2013) contains information on current managed grazing and pasture-related organizations, contacts and research initiatives.

Directors and educators with the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison share advice and principles for starting and operating a successful farm business.

A long-term southern Wisconsin cropping systems study shows that soils under managed grazing have a number of positive characteristics compared to soils under other cropping systems.

This handbook will help mentors develop their teaching skills as they progress through their first—or perhaps fortieth—internship.

Geared toward elementary school-aged children, this fortune teller is a fun project that teaches kids about food, livestock, wildlife on farms and Wisconsin agriculture. We […]

Dairy heifers that were raised on pasture in the ongoing Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems
Trial (WICST) performed as well as or better than similar heifers that were raised in confinement.

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).

The Wisconsin Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative funded several innovative grazing-related projects from 2009 to 2011. The Wisconsin Grazing Initiative 2012 Report details the 21 educational […]

This case study shares the experience of one Wisconsin farmer who has been growing cover crops on his cash grain farm for twenty years. He presents his philosophy of cover crop use, explains what cover crop management practices have and have not worked on his farm, and describes what benefits he sees from growing cover crops.