Social Work Commons^™

Contributors To Wisconsin’S Persistent Black-White Gap In Life Expectancy, Max T. Roberts, Eric N. Reither, Sojung Lim

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Background

Although the black-white gap in life expectancy has narrowed in the U.S., there is considerable variability across states. In Wisconsin, the black-white gap exceeds 6 years, well above the national average. Reducing this disparity is an urgent public health priority, but there is limited understanding of what contributes to Wisconsin’s racial gap in longevity. Our investigation identifies causes of death that contribute most to Wisconsin’s black-white gap in life expectancy among males and females, and highlights specific ages where each cause of death contributes most to the gap.

Methods

Our study employs 1999–2016 restricted-use mortality data provided by the …

Planning For Agriculture In Wisconsin: A Guide Forcommunities, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with basic information to help Wisconsin’s rural communities prepare to plan for agriculture. The guide was developed in response to the Comprehensive Planning Law passed under the 1999-2001 Wisconsin State Biennial Budget. This law requires that by January 1, 2010, all programs, actions, and decisions affecting land use must be consistent with the locally adopted comprehensive plan in order for the community to continue making land use related decisions. The law applies to cities, villages, towns, counties, and regional planning commissions.

Use And Implications Of Bovinesomatotropin For The Wisconsin Dairy Sector In The 1990s, B. Barham, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Moon

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Seven years have passed since the U.S. government approved the commercial use of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), a synthetic relative of a naturally-occurring growth hormone that stimulates milk production in cows. Prior to approval, national controversy over rBST, more popularly known as BGH (bovine growth hormone), raged for almost a decade (Barham, 1996). Opponents and proponents alike envisioned rBST as a juggernaut technology, one that would change the dairy industry in dramatic ways, first and foremost by substantially raising herd productivity and overall milk production and then perhaps by driving away consumers from dairy products. With these concerns in mind, …

The Roles Of Womenon Wisconsin Dairy Farms At The Turn Of The 21st Century, J. Vogt, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, M. Ostrom, S. Lezberg

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Nurturing Thenext Generation Of Wisconsin’S Dairy Farmers, B. Barham, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Stevenson, J. Taylor

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

A strong dairy economy has both economic and social benefits for Wisconsin. While support for beginning dairy farmers is not the only way to sustain and increase dairy productivity, it is an important strategy that can renew the dairy industry with new farmers. There are many challenges in attracting new people to the dairy business. New dairy farmers often face high start-up costs for land, equipment, and facilities. Volatile milk prices, long hours, and hard work reduce the appeal of a career in dairy farming. In the 1990s, prospective dairy farmers could readily find off-farm jobs that often paid better …

Smart Growth And Wisconsin Agriculture, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Relatively low and volatile agricultural commodity prices have placed increasing pressure on the state’s farm sector in the 1990s. At the same time, an unusually robust non-farm economy has generated significant demand for rural housing and recreational land development. The result has been a dramatic acceleration in the rate of farmland conversion to non- farm uses over the last 15 years. Non-farm growth pressures have affected many other aspects of Wisconsin’s urban and rural landscape as well. To help communities grapple with these new challenges, the state legislature passed a new “Smart Growth” law in the fall of 1999 (1999 …

The Use And Performance Of Intensiverotational Grazing Among Wisconsin Dairy Farms In The 1990s, M. Ostrom, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Growing numbers of Wisconsin dairy farmers have reported success using management intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) techniques that rely on pastures as the primary source of forage for their milking herds. The Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS) has been tracking the use and performance of MIRG systems in Wisconsin since the early 1990s through periodic, large-scale, random sample surveys and on-farm interviews with Wisconsin farmers. Utilizing recent results from the PATS 1997 and 1999 Wisconsin Dairy Farm Polls, this report provides an important update to previous PATS reports. In our surveys, the dairy farmers who report utilizing pastures for forage …

Management Intensive Rotational Grazingin Wisconsin: The 1990s, M. Ostrom, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Growing numbers of Wisconsin dairy farmers have reported success using management intensive rotational grazing (MIRG) techniques that rely on pastures as the primary source of forage for their milking herds. The Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS) has been tracking the use and performance of MIRG systems in Wisconsin since the early 1990s through periodic large-scale, random sample surveys of Wisconsin dairy farmers. This fact sheet incorporates recent results from PATS 1999 Dairy Farmer Poll into an overall summary of PATS grazing research.

How Wisconsin Farmers Feed Theircows: Results Of The 1999 Wisconsin Dairy Herd Feeding Study, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, J. M. Powell

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The Wisconsin dairy industry has seen dramatic changes over the last 20 years (Jackson- Smith and Barham, 2000). Overall, dairy farm numbers have been cut in half since the early 1980s, and the average size of remaining herds has increased by more than 60 percent (from roughly 40 cows to over 65 cows per herd). Despite these changes, most dairies are still single-family businesses, relying on household members for virtually all their farm labor requirements (Buttel et al., 2000). In 1998, state statistics suggested that over 70 percent of Wisconsin dairy operations were milking between 30 and 99 cows, and …

Wisconsin Dairy Farmer Views Onuniversity Research And Extension Programs, M. Ostrom, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Moon

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Over the last decade, the Program on Agricultural Technology Studies (PATS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has received a wide range of formal and informal comments from Wisconsin farmers regarding the direction of university research and extension programs. In an era of declining Extension budgets, increasing privatization, and a rapidly changing farm structure, the debate about where to focus scarce public resources takes on an added significance. Is there still an important role for land grant institutions to play in agriculture in the new century? If so, how can limited resources be targeted most effectively? What do farmers and other …

Wisconsin Agriculture In Historical Perspective:Economic And Social Changes, 1959-1995, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Anyone who travels through the Wisconsin countryside and speaks with an average farm operator will quickly come to appreciate the acute sense of anxiety about the future of agriculture that permeates rural life in the state. Long hours, a lack of vacation time, declining commodity prices, and rising farm expenses have all contributed to a growing inability to find young people interested in taking over Wisconsin farm operations. The loss of farms - particularly dairy farms - in many regions of the state has placed stress on the economic vitality and cultural identities of rural communities that have traditionally depended …

Expansiontrends In Wisconsin Dairying: Evidence From The 1994 Atffi Dairy Farmer Poll, B. Barham, F. Buttel, J. Mcnichol, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith, S. Wood

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

For several years there have been growing concerns about the long-run decline of farm incomes and the future viability of the dairy industry in Wisconsin. These problems are sometimes attributed to declining milk prices, and indeed the average milk price per hundredweight received by Wisconsin farmers has declined by over 40 percent since 1980 when inflation is taken into account. But there is now little optimism that the long-term decline of milk prices can be reversed. There is virtually no chance that the 1995 Farm Bill will raise the federal support price for milk products, and if anything there may …

Getting In While The Going's Tough: Entry In Thewisconsin Farm Sector, Douglas B. Jackson-Smith

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

In recent years, there has been growing public attention to an apparent decline in the rate at which young people have been entering the Wisconsin farm sector. Interest in farm entry arises from a public policy concern that if too few young people enter farming in the coming decade, the viability of the Wisconsin farm sector in general, and the dairy industry in particular, could be threatened. A number of public and private initiatives to assist beginning farmers have been proposed, and a few programs including subsidized loans and planning for a computerized land-link system to match entering and exiting …