The University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension Agriculture Institute is moving to a structure of having regional educators across the state. Shawano, Oconto, Marinette, Lincoln, and Langlade counties will be transitioning to this structure on April 15th. Regional educators will provide research-based education to dairy and crop producers by assessing the needs of farmers across their region and designing and delivering educational programming and services to meet these needs.
Dairy and crop production are the largest agricultural industries in the state and Regional Educators will offer specific expertise that can serve those industries across several counties. Regional Educators will:
- Design and deliver educational meetings and field days in the counties they represent
- Provide consultation on production challenges to farmers and agricultural consultants
- Contribute to digital outreach opportunities on agricultural topics through email, websites, and social media
- Collaborate with other educators and specialists across the state
- Engage with Extension Committees on progress and planning
Shawano, Oconto, Marinette, Lincoln, and Langlade counties will be served by a Regional Crops Educator,
Scott Reuss. Scott has been serving in Extension since 1997 in Marinette County. His current focus in programing is in nutrient management with additional programing in farm management and pest management. Contact information for Scott is scott.reuss@wisc.edu or 715-701-0966.
Shawano, Oconto, and Marinette counties will be served by a Regional Dairy Educator, Kimberly Schmidt. Kimberly joined Extension in 2018. She earned a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison with a major in Animal Science and a master’s degree in Animal Science from University of Tennessee-Knoxville where her research focused on the heat stress and protein metabolism in lactating cattle. Before joining Extension, Kimberly was a dairy nutritionist. In her current role, she develops agriculture programming focusing on alternative and traditional forage management. Contact information for Kimberly is kimberly.schmidt@wisc.edu or 715-526-6136.
