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The Country Today
Bangor dairy farmer says connection and education are key to the industry’s future
With an economic impact nearing $46 billion statewide, the dairy industry is a major player in Wisconsin agriculture. But what’s it really like to be a dairy farmer? What are the issues facing today’s dairy farmers in southwestern Wisconsin? Justin Peterson is a co-owner of Creamery Creek with his wife, Louisa, and members of the Hansen family, who have been farming on the Creamery Creek site for four generations, since 1932. The partnership’s multifaceted farming operation has roots in the southwestern Wisconsin town of Bangor...
Everything has value with balance
Last evening after closing up Farmstead after a busy day of scooping our delicious sheep milk gelato and baking wood-fired pizzas for the holiday visitors, Mom and I were out weeding the green beans. The pig weeds and purslanes were making their presences felt, threatening to crowd out the bean plants if we didn’t come to the rescue. On our hands and knees with buckets and crates, we carefully pulled out the offenders, leaving happy beans in our wake, standing tall without competition…at least for...
A 'Good Road': The Yellowstone Trail, part two
When a few forward-thinking citizens started the Yellowstone Trail Association in South Dakota in 1912, they didn’t realize they were creating the very first transcontinental route across the northern United States. Little by little this group persuaded other counties to build better roads (then called trails) mile after mile, eventually stretching from coast to coast. Even back then, many people understood the economic and cultural impact of having good roads. So does our state government. As a public service announcement, every spring Gov. Tony Evers...
Veterinarian: Wisconsin farmers adjusting well to FDA change on livestock prescriptions
Reflecting back on the year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration started requiring prescriptions for certain livestock antibiotics, one cattle veterinarian says Wisconsin farmers are adjusting smoothly to the change. Dr. Jon Garber, co-owner of Valley Veterinary Clinic near Green Bay, said commercial dairy farms typically had established relationships with veterinarians before the FDA change. Those relationships helped farms get timely access to new prescriptions after the change. Still,...
Market focus shifts
We are now at a stage of the marketing year where fundamental interest starts to shift. Up to this point much of the attention in the market has been on getting this year’s corn and soybean crops planted. Now that this has been completed, market interest shifts more towards crop growth and condition. For the past several growing seasons we have seen crop stress from drought. At the current time there is very little drought in the Corn Belt from widespread spring rains. As a result, we are seeing less weather premium in futures’ values. This is especially the case...
An ominous approach
The forecast had called for afternoon storms. This was a surprise to no one, as temperatures had rocketed up into the low 80s. The air was heavy with humidity, as if we had suddenly jumped to July for the day. The mosquitoes loved it — just as much as they loved trying to bite us. Brilliant sun accented by the staccato notes of puff clouds danced by in the azure sky as we kept an eye on the heavens during the day. At Farmstead Creamery,...
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Eau Claire Press Company’s rural newspaper, The Country Today, was established in January 1977 and was designed to serve the agribusiness community of west-central Wisconsin. It began as a free-distribution newspaper, and in the summer of 1979 was converted to a paid-circulation publication. Today it is one of Wisconsin’s largest paid-circulation weekly newspapers with distribution throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan. In October 1983, The Country Today expanded to offer statewide coverage. In recent years, the newspaper has developed an online and social media presence that is updated regularly. The content of the paper reflects the diverse interests of a rural population. In addition to coverage of agricultural issues, The Country Today offers regular columns and features on options for small-acreage farms, outdoor news, horse news and other specialty coverage and recipes. The majority of the content is staff-produced. The Country Today maintains a staff of regional editors and advertising representatives across the state in addition to the Eau Claire office staff. Covering topics of importance to the rural reader in a timely fashion, The Country Today is a newspaper that cares about rural life.
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