Learn To Improve Forage Production At women In Ag Conference, Nov. 7-8

Sep 30, 2014

By Amie Schleicher ,Valerie Tate

Learn how to increase hay production and reduce disease and waste at the annual Pearls of Production: Women in Agriculture conference Nov. 7-8 at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites, Columbia.

University of Missouri Extension specialists Amie Schleicher and Valerie Tate will give tips on how to improve profits by reducing fescue toxicosis. They’ll also show useful tools to monitor forage production, assess pasture condition and deal with common problems such as thin stands, weeds, insects and diseases. They’ll talk about ways to reduce hay waste and use information from hay tests.

The conference also covers beef, swine, cattle and small ruminant production topics. Classroom discussions, networking opportunities and hands-on breakout sessions provide female farmers an opportunity to update skills. Topics range from self-care to estate planning.

The first day of the conference features a keynote address by journalist Tyne Morgan of AgDay and U.S. Farm Report.

The MU College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, Lincoln University Cooperative Extension and MU Extension sponsor the annual event.

Source:missouri.edu

Video: Spring 2026 weather outlook for Wisconsin; What an early-arriving El Niño could mean

Northeast Wisconsin is a small corner of the world, but our weather is still affected by what happens across the globe.

That includes in the equatorial Pacific, where changes between El Niño and La Niña play a role in the weather here -- and boy, have there been some abrupt changes as of late.

El Niño and La Niña are the two phases of what is collectively known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO for short. These are the swings back and forth from unusually warm to unusually cold sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean along the equator.

Since this past September, we have been in a weak La Niña, which means water temperatures near the Eastern Pacific equator have been cooler than usual. That's where we're at right now.

Even last fall, the long-term outlook suggested a return to neutral conditions by spring and potentially El Niño conditions by summer.

But there are some signs this may be happening faster than usual, which could accelerate the onset of El Niño.

Over the last few weeks, unusually strong bursts of westerly winds farther west in the Pacific -- where sea surface temperatures are warmer than average -- have been observed. There is a chance that this could accelerate the warming of those eastern Pacific waters and potentially push us into El Niño sooner than usual.

If we do enter El Nino by spring -- which we'll define as the period of March, April and May -- there are some long-term correlations with our weather here in Northeast Wisconsin.

Looking at a map of anomalously warm weather, most of the upper Great Lakes doesn't show a strong correlation, but in general, the northern tiers of the United States do tend to lean to that direction.

The stronger correlation is with precipitation. El Niño conditions in spring have historically come with a higher risk of very dry weather over that time frame, so this will definitely be a transition we'll have to watch closely as we move out of winter.