Agriculture


Perhaps you’ve noticed: It’s spring and the Plants Are Blooming. Maybe it’s the smell of the lilacs, or the buzzing of bees. Or perhaps it’s the lush greens and bursts of color blurring your field of vision. But have you ever wondered how the landscape transitions from the brown drab of […]

Why flowers need winter


An aerial view of the Yahara watershed
Minnesota may be called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but Wisconsin probably has more. Likely, it has more. Or maybe it doesn’t. It’s a matter of opinion. Or, definition. Apparently, the exact number isn’t well known. What is known is that many places in Wisconsin are defined by their lakes, from Rock […]

Modeling the future of a watershed




A sign warns swimmers of the presence of toxic algae in Lake Mendota in Madison, WI, near the UW-Madison campus
“We in Wisconsin can do a lot to build our resilience to climate change,” Stephen Carpenter, director of UW-Madison Center for Limnology (CFL) and a principal researcher on the Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) project, recently told Jenny Seifert, science writer for CFL and outreach coordinator for WSC. The two got together to discuss a paper […]

Creating safe operating spaces for Wisconsin’s lakes could curb climate ...


A row of dairy cows in a barn at UW-Madison 2
It’s a serious problem. One that costs the U.S. dairy industry roughly $150 million annually, and the typical Wisconsin dairy farm about $12,000 a year. But a prescription for more cowbell is not enough to break this fever: milk fever. Especially prevalent in the early stages of lactation, milk fever is the result of dangerously […]

Milk fever, and more cowbell won’t do