For immediate release

March 19, 2001

For more information, or to have this file e-mailed, contact:

Judy Goplin - Program Assistant
Office Phone: 715/983-5668
Fax: 715/983-2138
jgoplin@wisc.edu

Discovery Farm Project Looking for Solutions

Answering producers' call for help in dealing with encroaching environmental regulations, Discovery Farms are being recruited to help with on-farm partnerships to find out which best management practices have the most effect on environmental protection, without incurring excessive cost to farmers.

An integral part of the Wisconsin Ag Stewardship Initiative (WASI), the Discovery Farm program takes a real-world approach to finding the most economical solutions to overcoming the challenges environmental regulations place on farmers. The whole-farm system will be looked at on every Discovery Farm to determine how each management component affects the whole system and the system's effect on the environment.

The goal of Discovery Farms is not only to help farmers find the best solutions to dealing with environmental regulations, but also to shape future environmental regulations to fit what's applicable and achievable in Wisconsin, in order to maintain a viable agricultural economy.

Currently one Discovery Farm has been selected, located in Independence. This farm, operated by the Bragger family, consists of dairy, beef, poultry and cropping enterprises. The Discovery Farm program is envisioned to include 25 to 30 farms total, spanning Wisconsin's diverse soil types, physical and water characteristics and cropping and livestock enterprises.

Discovery Farms is a producer-driven project, with a largely producer-based advisory board. WASI is a partnership with cooperation from the State of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin System, DATCP, DNR, NRCS and Extension, as well as WMMB and Wisconsin Farm

Bureau. Dennis Frame, nutrient management specialist in Wisconsin, and Fred Madison, UW-Madison soil scientist, is heading the Discovery Farm program up.

The Discovery Farm application deadline is May 31. For an application or for more information about WASI and the Discovery Farm program, contact Dennis Frame (715-299-0081), Fred Madison (608-263-4004) or Shannon Hayes (608-527-3462, smhayes@facstaff.wisc.edu ).