Chuck Himsel "Never Alone"

While this might be off-topic for this blog, I wanted to share this memorial to an outstanding firefighter and community leader. May we all find a calling and follow it as steadfastly as Chief Himsel.

Gov. Doyle: "Grazing" grants strengthen agriculture

Madison (News Release) - Governor Jim Doyle today announced $344,980 in Grazing Lands and Conservation Initiative (GLCI) grants to fund 9 projects across the state. The GLCI grants protect the land and water of the state through education, technical planning assistance, and research for dairy and livestock farmers.

"Grazing takes agriculture back to its roots, and it's a practice that is strengthening our state's $59 billion farm economy," Governor Doyle said. "Grazing not only helps to protect our state's land and water, it produces good, healthy, happy cows, and it's cost effective for farmers. Through the success of this program, almost half of all of new dairy farmers in Wisconsin are using grazing."

Grazing moves animals to a fresh pasture on a regular basis while resting unused pastures so the plants can regrow before being grazed again. Beginning farmers are more likely to use a managed grazing system to get started in agriculture because it doesn't require a huge capital investment in buildings and machinery.

Under Governor Doyle's leadership, Wisconsin has invested and promoted its diverse agricultural economy, which has now grown to approximately $59 billion annually and is responsible for more than 1 in 10 jobs in Wisconsin. Incentives to help modernize the dairy industry have helped increase milk production to record levels and have strengthened the state's status as the number one producer of cheese in the country. In addition, Wisconsin is second in the nation in the number of organic farms.

At the same time, efforts to strengthen diversity in agriculture have made Wisconsin a leading producer of cranberries, specialty cheeses, organic vegetables and many other products. To enable successful farming for future generations, the state's best farmland is protected under the Working Lands Initiative that Governor Doyle signed into law in 2009.

Earlier this year, Governor Doyle signed into law several bills to create jobs and support investment in the state's agricultural industries. These bills created a food processing tax credit to create investment opportunities for Wisconsin food processing and distribution businesses; extended the dairy modernization tax credits through 2012 to help hard-pressed dairy farmers invest in their operations; and created a Farm to School program to help more Wisconsin schools have easier access to locally grown fruits and vegetables.

2011 GLCI grants were awarded to the following projects:

Glacierland Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. – Green Bay

$33,000 technical assistance grant to assist a wide array of farm families in developing grazing plans and grazing plan revisions in Northeastern Wisconsin.

Golden Sands Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. – Stevens Point

$61,309 technical assistance grant for veteran and beginning graziers in nine Central Wisconsin counties.

River Country Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. -- Altoona

$80,000 technical assistance for farmers in the counties of St. Croix, Pierce, Dunn, and Pepin. 

Columbia County Land and Water Conservation Department -- Portage

A $7,840 Technical Assistance grant to provide and make available local opportunities for technical assistance to farmers new to grazing and existing grazing operations that will include all aspects of managed grazing planning.

GrassWorks, Inc. -- Cadott

$29,875 education grant to provide a statewide grazing conference that will include educational workshops, informational resources, access to service agencies and product vendors as well as networking opportunities for new and experienced graziers of all livestock species.

Pri Ru Ta Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. -- Spooner

$12,760 education grant to increase the number of farmers utilizing prescribed/managed grazing, and improve both new and experienced graziers' understanding and management practices.

Waushara County UW Extension -- Wautoma

$12,760 education grant to provide pasture walks, forage demonstration plots, and educational programs on managed grazing in Juneau, Wood, Portage, Waushara, Marquette, Green Lake, and Adams Counties.

Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy & Livestock Farmers – University of Wisconsin - Madison

$57,537 education grant to help individuals get started in pasture-based dairy or livestock farming through classes on campus as well as through distance education technology at 12 off-site locations around Wisconsin.

University of Wisconsin -College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

$49,899 research grant to evaluate the effectiveness and economics of farmer selected management methods for reducing losses in pasture forage quality, quantity, and utilization from Canada thistle.

What Dr. Seuss Taught Me About Invasive Plants

In "On Beyond Zebra" Dr. Seuss teaches us the problem with invasive plants.

In the places I go there are things that I see
That I never could spell if I stopped with the Z.
I'm telling you this 'cause you're one of my friends.
My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends!"
He then proceeds to describe the alphabet on beyond Zebra.
One of his special letters is NUH.
"And NUH is the letter I use to spell Nutches
Who live in small caves, known as Nitches, for hutches.
These Nutches have troubles, the biggest of which is
The fact there are many more Nutches than Nitches.
Each Nutch in a Nitch knows that some other Nutch
Would like to move into his Nitch very much.
So each Nutch in a Nitch has to watch that small Nitch
Or Nutches who haven't got Nitches will snitch.

Our native Nutches need their niches.



Thanks to the TheLorax at Wildlife Gardeners for introduing me to this great analogy.
http://www.wildlifegardeners.org/forum/feature-articles/3773-invasive-species-nutshell.html

Hit Them When They're Down

Not the most sporting tactic, but when dealing with Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), certainly the right thing to do.

Japanese knotweed completely blocks light from getting to the ground layer, so that nothing but it lives under its canopy. In the fall those canes die back exposing open ground. The dead canes of Fallopia protect its rhizomes from the worst of winter frost and freezing. By carefully removing and burning the old stalks and leaving the ground open, you will let mother nature work on these invaders who come from a client that is not as extreme as Wisconsin. If possible, burn the canes onsite to eliminate the possibility of spreading the infestation.

While winter will not kill Japanese knotweed, it will weaken the plant making herbicide treatment in the spring more effective.

Coming to a Radside Near You

Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) is listed by the World Conservation Union as on of the World's 100 Worst Invasive Species. The roots of Japanese knotweed, also known as Mexican bamboo, can break up blacktop roads and concrete foundations. Many banks in Scotland refuse to write mortgages for property whose soil is infested this invader.

The plant spreads through both sexual reproduction and vegetatively through rhizomes. The plant sends dies back to the ground every fall and sends up new stalks that reach more than 10 feet tall. A small piece of root falling off the back of a dump truck is enough to spark a new clone. Once established, a clone can spread ten meters a year. Its roots reach 20-25 feet deep. Attempting to remove Fallopia japonica by digging it up is extremely dangerous, as each little piece of the massive root system has the potential to start a new clone. The most effective means of control is herbicide applied injected into hollow stalks or as a foliar spray, several times a year, over multiple years.

The image above was recently taken along a county highway just south of Spring Green. This stand is particularly dangerous because it includes seed producing female plants. The fact that it has seed means that there is also a male plant nearby to pollinate it.

The Southwestern Wisconsin Weed Management Association (SWWMA) is a coalition of private landowners, public land managers, highway departments, consultants and contractors, as well as conservation groups dedicated to controlling the spread of invasive plants and preventing new speices from getting established. Our service area includes Grant, Lafayette, Iowa, Dane, Crawford, Richland and Sauk counties in Wisconsin.

SWWMA Affiliates with IPAW

The Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin (IPAW) board of directors agreed at their September 27, 2010 meeting to approve the fiscal agency agreement with the Southwestern Wisconsin Weed Management Assoication (SWWMA). This agreement means that IPAW will serve as the umbrella organization for SWWMA, allowing it to qualify for tax-exempt donations and grants.

According to SWWMA president Mark Horn, "We are delighted to be associated with IPAW. They have an outstanding reputation and make a broad range of resources available to our growing organization."

SWWMA is a cooperative weed management association covering Grant, Lafayette, Iowa, Dane, Crawford, Richland and Sauk counties in southwestern Wisconsin.

Hello

Welcome to the Invasive Plants blog. This is a forum to share information about an environmental problem that costs property owners millions of dollars year and is destroying biodiversity at a rate second only to habitat loss.

Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. The whole idea is to improve the common knowledge base and build community.