By Jamie Mara
Research taking place at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville is contributing to a better understanding of the effects of dairy farming practices aimed at building healthier soils, with the team recently sharing an update on the ongoing work.
A team at UW-Platteville's Pioneer Farm led by Dr. Dennis Busch, senior scientist, wrapped up the third year of research at the end of 2025. UW-Platteville is one of eight research institutions across the country participating in an six-year project called Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration, initiated by Dairy Management Inc. in collaboration with the Soil Health Institute to advance progress toward the dairy industry’s collective 2050 environmental stewardship goals.
Overall, the project is studying soil health and manure management and their effects on greenhouse gas emissions, water quality improvement and agronomic factors such as yield and quality of crops grown for dairy cattle feed.
Busch’s team is evaluating two dairy-focused crop production systems — one a conventional approach with commonly used farming practices, the other using Soil Health Management System (SHMS) practices.
Source : uwplatt.edu