In recent years, scientists have become concerned that heavy farm equipment is causing soil compaction below the nominal depth of tillage. Compaction this deep may not be ameliorated after one season's freeze‐thaw and wet‐dry cycles. Experiments were conducted on a Kewaunee (fine, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalf) and Rozetta (fine‐silty, mixed, mesic Typic Hapludalf) soil to determine the duration and effect of subsoil compaction on soil strength and corn (Zea mays L.) growth. Soil at two sites was compacted with 8 and 12.5 Mg axle loads in the spring of 1983. Cone‐penetration resistance of compacted soil was significantly higher than that of uncompacted soil below the plow zone. Plant heights, at physiological maturity averaged across both sites, were reduced 13 and 26% on the 8‐ and 12.5‐Mg compaction treatments, respectively, compared with the control in 1983. In 1984, average mature plant heights were 2.4, 2.3, and 2.3 m for the control, 8‐, and 12.5‐Mg compaction, respectively. Three years after the compaction was applied (1986), the average mature plant height for the 8‐ and 12.5‐Mg compacted sites were reduced 3.1 and 4.3% compared with the control. Nitrogen and K uptake was reduced by compaction. Iron, Al, and Mn uptake increased with increasing levels of compaction on the Kewaunee soil in 1983. In 1983, yields for the 8‐ and 12.5‐Mg treatments on the Rozetta soil were reduced 4 and 14%, respectively, relative to the control. Similarly, yields for the Kewaunee soil were reduced 14 and 43%. Yields for the Kewaunee soil were not reduced by compaction in 1984, although 5 and 9% reductions were observed at the Rozetta site. Yields were not affected the following 2 yr (1985 and 1986), whereas the resistance to cone penetration was significantly higher in the compacted plots compared with the control.
This case study documents the start-up of a successful alternative dairy farm in Wisconsin. Initially the vision was to establish a 97-ha biodynamic farm with dairy and cash cropping. Low milk prices throughout most of 1991 and the heavy work load associated with conventional dairying forced the farm family to look for alternative strategies. They experimented with management-intensive grazing in 1992, and by spring 1994 had seeded their entire farm to sod. The work load still was too heavy, so they switched to seasonal dairying and outwintering of their dry stock, which reduced the daily midwinter work load from 12 to 3.5 hours. By the end of 1995, yearly net farm income from operations had risen from $21,500 (1990 and 1991) to $54,000 (1994 and 1995). The farm family, with its alternative approach (biodynamic, grass-based, seasonal milking) weathered the stresses of entering dairy farming at a time when entry rates were very low and existing dairy farmers faced substantial financial pressure. The grassbased system required low purchased feed inputs ($300 per cow) and nearly reached equilibrium in the whole-farm nutrient budget. Good herd management has maintained high productivity (rolling herd average of 17,000 lbs) and excellent herd health. Renting the farm and managing money carefully have resulted in a low debt load ($73 per cow). This study illustrates the complexities and adjustments associated with the initiation of an alternative farm business.
This study investigated the agricultural work-related safety and health programming of county-level cooperative extension agents who work through land grant universities to provide a range of educational programs to agricultural producers. A questionnaire was designed and administered to all 89 Wisconsin agriculture and agribusiness extension county faculty. The questionnaire obtained valid responses from 98.9 percent of the agents. Ninety percent of all agents conducted some occupational safety and health promotion programming in the last year. These activities occupied an average of 4.8 days per agent per year. Most of the reported activities were group programs for the agricultural labor force that involved other extension agents and included the use of videotapes. The greatest barrier to more programming was lack of time on the part of both the agricultural work force and the agents. Most extension agents placed greater emphasis on training in how to work safely around hazards than on how to recognize and permanently correct hazards. For future programs agents requested more short format materials to use in programming, such as fact sheets, videotapes, and farm hazard inspection checklists. Agents are important training delivery resources for controlling farm-related injury and disease. Agents could be more effective with more time, better materials, and with more emphasis on hazard correction in workplace safety programs.
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