U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan has been crisscrossing the country, visiting college campuses to educate young people about careers in agriculture. Merrigan's efforts are spurred by the rising age of farmers in America, which is 57. (In 2002, it was 55.)

Agricultural census figures show that the fastest-growing group of farmers and ranchers is the segment over 65. For every one farmer and rancher under 25, there are five who are 75 or older.

The Steiger 600, Steiger 500, Steiger 450 and Steiger 350 all showed significant fuel efficiency and drawbar horsepower advantages over the competition, according to test lab reports.

Hamilton Equipment is the exclusive U.S. importer/distributor of the full line of Tanco Autowrap products including Tanco bale wrappers, bale shears and Tanco parts.

The Wisconsin Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI) funded several innovative grazing-related projects from 2009 to 2011. The Wisconsin Grazing Initiative 2012 Report details the 21 educational projects, 23 technical assistance projects and 10 research projects that supported a variety of grazing-related work. Click here to read the full report. The projects, which can last as long as three years, incorporate research-based information and rely on farmer-to-farmer learning. Public events and media coverage of these projects increased general awareness of the benefits of managed grazing to Wisconsin’s rural landscape, communities and economy.

Neal Martin, director of the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Madison, Wisconsin, received the first ever John S. Shenk Memorial Award from the NIRS Forage and Feed Testing Consortium (NIRSC) for his 20 years of service to the organization. The award was presented at the NIRSC annual meeting on Feb. 15. NIRSC works to promote accuracy, knowledge and application of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) analysis through uniformity, standardization and good practices in order to bring excellence in forage and feed testing to the farmer.    

In its third year, the AgChat Foundation’s Agvocacy 2.0 event is poised to be its most dynamic social media training opportunity yet. The conference will be held Aug. 23-24 in Kansas City, Missouri, where farmers and ranchers from across the nation will convene to learn how to better support agriculture and engage with non-farm consumers.

Advocacy 2.0 is hosted by the AgChat Foundation, a primarily volunteer organization that aims to empower farmers and ranchers to “agvocate” by connecting consumers with accurate information about farming and food production using social media.