SWCMA 8th Annual Young Dairy Producer Educational Scholarship
A $2,000 scholarship is again offered by the Southwestern Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (SWCMA) to encourage young dairy producers to continue in dairy and help maintain the milk supply to area cheese plants. Any student whose Wis.-based dairy markets milk to any SWCMA member plant [member list included on application form] is eligible to apply. Submission deadline is March 31, 2010.

Farming Through Difficult Times
The UW-Extension has launched "farming through difficult times" to help dairy producers and agriculture leaders find up-to-date information on dairy finances and to inform the agriculture community on topics such as future outlook, production recommendations and stress management.

New ''Cheese For Me'' Micro Website
Have a problem figuring out your favorite cheese? Answer a few short questions, and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board's newest micro website, "Cheese For Me," will select the ideal cheese based on your flavor preferences and style.

Holiday Baking With Butter
With the holidays approaching, we look forward to the time-honored tradition of baking delicious treats, made even more lucious with real butter. Find everything you want to know about butter, new recipes, and the chance to sign up for a daily holiday butter newsletter at www.ButterisBest.com.

Dairy Industry Sustainability Program
The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy launched a website, USDairy.com, dedicated to communicating information about the Innovation Center’s areas of priority. The sustainability section features news, tools, best practices, and explains the industry’s roadmap to greenhouse gas reduction, the science behind the lifecycle assessment currently underway, and detailed best practices and resources for each segment of the dairy industry supply chain.

Find Farming Answers at Discovery Farms
Need to know more about manure management? Questions about planning for extreme weather swings? Want to manage stocking rates on out-winter paddocks to minimize manure phosphorus accumulation? Visit UW Discovery Farms' website for on-farm research results seeking to identify production ag impact on water quality.

Farming in Difficult Times Assistance
The Wisconsin Farm Center has collaborated with UW-Extension to develop materials now available on the “Extension Responds: Farming in Difficult Times” website and given to Extension agents to provide farmers at the county level with the appropriate information to support applications for Badger Care Plus and FoodShare. Any Wisconsin dairy farmer in need is encouraged to contact the Wisconsin Farm Center at 1-800-942-2474 or http://datcp.state.wi.us/core/agriculture/agriculture.jsp.