Deans from Wisconsin's schools of agriculture are standing is support of the Dairy Innovation Hub.  The Hub acts as a collaborative "nexus," uniting the unique strengths of UW-Madison, UW-Platteville, and UW-River Falls to benefit Wisconsin's broader  agricultural and education landscape. For example at UW-Platteville, faculty members from the chemistry and mechanical engineering departments successfully patented a method to turn spoiled milk into 3D printing material.  Researchers at UW-River Falls developed a more affordable lactose-free ice cream, which is currently being sold to the public at the campus’s Freddy’s Dairy Bar. UW-Madison is utilizing high-level science, such as SNAP plus modeling, to create new nutrient strategies that help farmers contain phosphorus and nitrogen. The deans say despite the rising "cost of doing business," state funding for the Hub has not been adjusted for inflation since it was established around 2019 or 2020. To ensure the Hub’s value is understood during budget cycles, the universities host major public events—ranging from Lafayette County Dairy Breakfasts to field days at Madison’s 12 regional ag research stations—where lawmakers can see the impact firsthand.

Heat will be noticeable today in Wisconsin and so will the wind.  Stu Muck says that wind will be bringing with it a chance of rain and thunderstorms beginning overnight.

On Wednesday evening, USDA confirmed the first case of New World Screw Worm in Texas.  USDA Secretary, Brooke Rollins, says they've mobilized APHIS staff and are implementing a 20 km quarantine radius to monitor and contain livestock movement.  She stresses this is NOT a food safety issue.

Dairy will be keeping an eye on the New World Screw Worm situation.  Collin Aardema, dairy analyst with EverAg tells Pam Jahnke that the impacted geography right now isn't a heavy dairy populus, but if the quarantine expands - it could impact milk flow.  Right now Idaho IS catching some attention because of a few outbreaks of HPAI in dairy.  Aardema says the curious piece is that it's impacting calves more than cows.