Looking ahead with 2020 vision: How farmers can keep clean water in focus is the theme for this years’ 8th Annual Discovery Farms Conference set to be held on December 11 at the Glacier Canyon Conference Center in Wisconsin Dells.

This year, Discovery Farms will put Wisconsin in focus and feature the state of our state’s water quality from the perspectives of farmers, policymakers and researchers.

On the agenda:

• Is progress even possible? Alisa Gravitz, Green America Center for Sustainability Solutions CEO
• Cover crops, forage and water quality: Discovery Farms data. Amber Radatz, Discovery Farms Co-Director
• Alternative rotations with mainstream benefits. Farmer panel
• Studying Wisconsin’s Groundwater Part 1: Southwest Groundwater Study. Expert panel
• Studying Wisconsin’s Groundwater Part 2: Research in the sands. Kevin Masarik, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, Ground Water Education Specialist
• Catching up with the Water Quality Task Force. Representative Todd Novak, Assembly District 51, Representative Katrina Shankland, Assembly District 71

This water quality focused day will leave you with practical solutions to address concerns at the farm level as well as update you on the multiple facets of research and political activity happening in Wisconsin.

Registration is now open! Cost: $60 or $50 if you are a member of one of our sponsoring organizations.

Discovery Farms is a farmer-led research and outreach program of UW-Madison Division of Extension focused on the relationship between agriculture and water quality. Since 2001, the program has worked on over 100 privately owned farms across Wisconsin to identify the water quality impacts of different farming systems.