July 2018
CALS and WALSAA at Farm Tech Days
This year's Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, the largest agricultural show in the state and one of the largest in the country, will be held July 10-12 at D&B Sternweis Farms and Weber's FarmStore/Heiman Holsteins in Marshfield, Wisconsin. CALS and WALSAA will be well represented.

Two CALS alums, Katie Sternweis BS'03, Scott Sternweis BS'08, and Bradley Sternweis FISC'09, hail from Sternweis Farms. Established in 1877, this co-host farm has grown from 80 acres and an initial herd of 30 cows to 1,200 acres and 400 cows today.

CALS faculty members will be on hand at the UW-Extension Education Station to showcase their research to thousands of visitors.

And the Wisconsin Agricultural and Life Sciences Alumni Association (WALSAA) will host its summer picnic on Wednesday, July 11, from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Marshfield Agricultural Research Station. This is a great opportunity to connect with other CALS alumni and friends. Tours of the station will be available during the picnic. Register in advance.
Summer 2018 Issue of Grow is Available Online

The summer issue of Grow has arrived in mailboxes, and it's also available online in multiple formats including a new mobile-friendly website. (Look for more improvements to the website when future issues are released.) 

Feature stories include the following:

Drones, Joysticks, and Data-Driven Farming | The use of drone-assisted remote sensing is ushering in an era of "precision agriculture."

 

Forgotten Molecules | The fruits of an emeritus professor's 40-year career in biochemistry are contributing to the modern search for new medications.

 

Vector Vigilance | A new UW center looks to stay a step ahead of the Upper Midwest's ticks and mosquitoes -- and the diseases they carry. 

 

A wide range of other content includes fireflies, tracking American martens via trail cameras, fighting crop disease with an ancient technique in Central America, CALS alums making their mark as entrepreneurs, and more.

And don't forget the Final Exam. Can you ace the test for a chance to win a box of cheese from Babcock Hall? Good luck!
Survey on the Future of Grow

It's been more than a decade since Grow first launched, and we hope we can keep going for another decade and more. But to do this in the best way possible, we need your guidance.

We want you, our readers, to help us decide how the magazine develops and evolves. If you'd like to have a hand in shaping the future of Grow, please take a few minutes to respond to our short online survey.

Need extra motivation? Anyone who completes the questionnaire can be entered in a drawing for a free gift box of Babcock Hall cheese!
Double Your Impact on CALS

$20=$40  |  $50=$100  |  $150=$300

Give to the CALS Fund today and your gift will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000, by a generous, anonymous donor. That means your generosity will have twice the positive impact on students this fall.

CALS depends on private support to be successful. Your gift, large or small, helps the college remain strong. Now is the perfect time to double your support -- it's what Badgers do. Please don't miss this opportunity.
Blue Sky Science: Seedless Plants

When someone asked, "How do seedless plants start?" Blue Sky Science turned to  Amaya Atucha, assistant professor in the Department of Horticulture, for the answers. Here's her explanation.

Blue Sky Science is a collaboration of the Wisconsin State Journal and the Morgridge Institute for Research.

Boundless Together: Rural Voice

"I always tell my writing students that when we forget our histories, we forget who we are," says Jerry Apps BS'55, MS'57, a man considered by many to be the preeminent voice of rural Wisconsin.

Apps was born and raised near Wild Rose in Waushara County on a 160-acre farm, where his parents began farming in 1924. They had no electricity or indoor plumbing. Heat came from the wood stove. As a boy, Apps milked cows by hand, made hay using horses and a pitchfork, and cut grain with a horse-drawn binder.

Driven to preserve and memorialize country life before it's gone, Apps has written more than 35 books on rural history. His writing has covered some of Wisconsin's most iconic topics, from breweries, cheese, and the Ringling Brothers to barns and the restoration and conservation of his own farm, Roshara.

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