2007 | 2006
Afterschool Adventures Reaches Out to Rural Schools in Marathon County
Afterschool Adventures In 2005, the Marathon County 4-H Leaders Federation completed a strategic planning process that identified a need for afterschool educational programs in the outlying areas of Hatley and Athens. — Jean Berger, 4-H Youth Development Agent
Animal Health/Bio-security Addressed by 4-H & Fair
Marathon County 4-H has been concerned with the latest developments in Animal Health and Bio-security issues in recent years. The 2006 year was no exception with new training sessions being added to our comprehensive plan for implementation at 4-H events and at the Wisconsin Valley Fair. -- Jean Berger, 4-H Youth Development Agent
Comprehensive Plans Move Forward in Marathon County
Marathon County and 51 of the municipalities within its borders have been cooperating in an effort to create a comprehensive plan for each of the municipalities and the county to meet the intent of the 1999 comprehensive planning legislation. In 2006, county staff completed a process funded in part by a grant through the Wisconsin Department of Administration, wrapping up their work with a consultant team from Minneapolis and Baraboo. — Mary Kluz, Community Resource Development Agent
Economy Depends on Low-cost Dairy Modernization Education
Dairy is the largest part of Marathon County’s agriculture. But, most of the 828 dairy farms in Marathon County still operate in relatively labor-intensive tie-stall and stanchion barns. As these farm owners seek to increase their income or retire, they need to learn more about the options and strategies available to modernize. Farmstead changes can include how producers milk, feed, house, and handle manure with the latest technology and system innovations available… — Mike Wildeck, Director/Dairy Agent
Engaging City, Town, County, State and Federal Government Officials in Planning for an Animal Disease Emergency
In 2006 over 170 city, town, county, state and federal officials gained a better appreciation of the cross jurisdictional coordination and planning that needs to be done to prepare for and react to an animal disease emergency. After a general education program on animal diseases that may require a cross-jurisdictional emergency response and how that response would be handled, this agent led fifty city, town, county, state and federal officials in Lincoln and Marathon Counties going through the process of identifying areas where cross-jurisdictional cooperation needs to be improved… — Tom Cadwallader, Agricultural Development Agent
Local Community is Driving Force in Forming a New Educational Model
The Dairyland State Academy (DSA) is an ambitious effort to stimulate and support the economic vitality of dairy and related industries in north central Wisconsin through an integrated program of education, business development, and practitioner engagement. Modeled after a successful program in northeast Iowa, the Academy will be producer-led through an independent foundation to provide the vision, creativity, and drive to develop the needed educational programs and facilities… — Mike Wildeck, Director/Dairy Agent
Low-Cost Dairy Modernization and Innovation Opens the Doors to Northern Wisconsin
Dairy farms continue to have a tremendous amount of economic impact on communities in northern Wisconsin and throughout the state as a whole. This emphasizes the importance of maintaining the viability of these businesses and supplying the tools needed to create a healthy, profitable and vibrant dairy business. The average age of dairy farmers continues to rise, milk prices fail to rise with costs of production, health care costs are an overwhelming concern, and today’s dairy farmers are seeking ways to spend more quality time away from their farms for both personal time and time with family… — Sam Zimmermann, Northern WI Dairy Educator
Magic Beans Promote Healthy Eating Habits for Marathon County Youth
In 1997, the Marathon County Nutrition Education Program, in cooperation with the fourth grade teachers at Lincoln Elementary, started a school nutrition program that included initiating a school garden to reinforce to the students the importance of eating a variety of vegetables each day. Correspondingly, in the summer of 1997, a new summer school class called the “Magic Bean” was developed that would continue the nutrition focus and would also maintain the garden that was started by the fourth grade classes at the end of the regular school year. Nine years later, the “Magic Bean” summer school class is still popular, with many students returning for more than one year… — Tammy Hansen, Nutrition Education Program Coordinator
Marathon County Government Employs Continuous Improvement Strategies
Marathon County government is pursuing continuous improvement through performance management activities and discussions. As part of an overall strategy of organizational development, administrators chose to pursue outcome measurement as a means to improve programs and communicate results. Also, the Marathon County Finance Director faces requirements for evidence of performance management, maintaining the standards espoused by the Government Finance Officers Association. — Mary Kluz, Community Resource Development Agent
Marathon County Youth Contribute to Dog Project's Success
Marathon County 4-H has many youth interested in the dog project. Last year, at the Wisconsin Valley Fair, the dog superintendent noticed that there were inconsistencies in dog handling techniques. Marathon County 4-H has never had a county wide dog project program. Youth who wanted learn how to train dogs were taught by a club project leader, a professional trainer or learned independently. Besides not having a consistent county dog training program, there were not any specific training requirements… — Amber Brei, 4-H Youth Development Advisor
Meeting Needs For Conflict Management Curriculum
Cooperative Extension assists Wisconsin residents, families, organizations, communities and government in the application of knowledge to build capacity and to improve decision-making on critical issues they face. In decision- making, differing opinions about the best course of action are common and generally contribute toward more informed, effective decisions. Sometimes conflicts arise if parties become antagonized and entrenched. Disputes arise over issues ranging from youth and family to health to natural resources to economics. — Mary Kluz, Community Resource Development Agent
Pre-college Grant brings CYFAR youth to Wisconsin State Youth Conference
The CYFAR (Children Youth and Families at Risk) middle school program received a $5,000.00 “pre-college” grant from the UW Chancellor that funded participation in the State Youth Conference Program on the Madison Campus in June, 2006. The grant was large enough to provide transportation and fees for non-traditional members to the campus based program. The delegation included Hmong and other low income youth who had never been to the Madison campus before. — Jean Berger, 4-H Youth Development Agent
Task Force Addresses Concern For Rural Economy
Historic low prices for agricultural goods such as milk and ginseng had put Marathon County’s rural economy into a depressed state in 2002. In response, Marathon County government and UWEX formed a task force to “improve the rural economy.” Since October, 2003 the leadership on Task Force Initiative #3 —“Marathon County should create a farm-based cooperative network” has been a responsibility of Wildeck and Ag Development Agent, Tom Cadwallader. — Mike Wildeck, Director/Dairy Agent
Using Distance Education to Reach New Audiences for UW Agriculture Degree Programs
The eleven year old Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers (WSBDF), offered through the Farm and Industry Short Course (FISC) program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at the UW-Madison campus, has acted as a catalyst for offering CALS degree/certificate credit courses to farmers around Wisconsin and perhaps beyond; farmers who would never have taken the course in Madison. Using the distance education (DE) resources of UW-Extension, 27 traditional FISC students taking the class in Madison have been connected with 8 students at the UW-Marathon County campus in Wausau and 7 at the Madison Area Technical College (MATC) campus in Reedsburg. — Tom Cadwallader, Agricultural Development Agent
2006 SUCCESS STORIES