For immediate release: 11/11/02

For more information contact:

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

Dutch Visitors Learn About Food Safety, Extension, Environmental Programs/Issues

A group from the Netherlands recently spent a week in Wisconsin learning what Wisconsin is doing to deal with issues in agriculture similar to challenges faced in the Netherlands. In the past other Dutch farm groups have visited Wisconsin, but this group of Dutch visitors was slightly different, as it included farm leaders.

The group consisted of S.J. Schenk, Dutch farmer and dairy division president of the Dutch Farm Organization (LTO); Rob Bogers, Wageningen University International Nucleus for Strategic Expertise; Jos Raaijmakers, a representative from Dairy Farmers of To-Morrow (a professional organization of dairy farmers with herds of 150-300 cows – large Dutch farms) and feed/nutrition consultant for Nutreco; and Abele Kuipers, Expertise Center for Farm Management and Knowledge Transfer at Wageningen University. Wageningen is the main Dutch agricultural university.

The Dutch group met with colleagues in similar positions in Wisconsin. Of particular interest to them were topics such as Discovery Farms and the Wisconsin Agriculture Stewardship Initiative (WASI); environmental issues facing Wisconsin agriculture and how farmers here are handling them; food safety issues Wisconsin faces on a farm level; development and management of large dairies; the mechanics and effectiveness of Cooperative Extension, and emigration of Dutch farmers to the Midwest.

Dutch dairy farmers face many similar issues that Midwest dairy farmers face. There is pressure from the public on expanding dairies, although a large Dutch dairy only has 150-300 cows. Finding effective methods of information transfer from the university setting out to farmers is a significant issue for the Netherlands, which is the reason for their interest in how our Extension programs work.

While in Wisconsin, the group attended the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin Environmental Conference held in Stevens Point; they spent a day with the Discovery Farms Program, learning about Extension and different agricultural environmental research projects, met with Wisconsin Farm Bureau, representatives from the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection and WASI. At UW-Madison they met with food safety specialists, along with representatives from Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. The group also met with representatives from Vita Plus and made a variety of farm visits.

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Dutch group photo : A group of agricultural leaders from the Netherlands recently visited Wisconsin to learn about several parallel aspects of our dairy industries, especially environmental issues and programs, and large farm management. Among the group's farm visits was the 600-cow Goplin Family Dairy, near Osseo. Left to right: Rob Bogers, Wageningen University; S.J. Schenk, Dutch Farm Organization; Jamie Goplin, Shane Goplin, Nolan Goplin, Judy Goplin, Discovery Farms; Dennis Frame, Discovery Farms; Abele Kuipers, Wageningen University; and Jos Raaijmakers, Nutreco.