SHEBOYGAN FALLS, Wis. –- Wisconsin farmers don’t do much sitting on the job unless it’s on a tractor. Dairy farmer and custom operator Josh Kroeplien has come together with Agri-View to change that.

In its booth, B098 in agribusiness tent B at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in Kewaunee County, Agri-View is holding a drawing to give away an outdoor chair handmade by Kroeplien. One of Agri-View’s “From the Fields” producer-reporters for the 2017 growing season, the young farmer has an on-farm woodworking business called Josh’s Woodworks.

ALGOMA, Wis. — Alfalfa harvesting has top billing for field demonstrations at the 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, to be held July 11-13 in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin. But harvest of Wisconsin’s starring forage will share the spotlight with direct-cut triticale harvest, mechanical rock picking and tillage during the three-day show at Ebert Enterprises near Algoma.

In 2015, Kewaunee County was home to 45,500 dairy cows in 167 herds, according to the latest Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics book for 2016. That’s a lot of bovine mouths to feed. At Ebert Enterprises, there are more than 3,500 cows hankering for alfalfa haylage.

University of Wisconsin-Extension specialists and agents will discuss their latest research in the areas of dairy, farm business and water during the 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days. Specialist Central, located in the UW-Extension Education Station will feature interactive discussions with UW-Extension specialists.

The specialists will present four 30-minute sessions each day at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Each day will feature a new theme and round of specialists.

ALGOMA, Wis. – Thirty-minute farm tours of Ebert Enterprises, the 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days host farm, will be conducted daily during the July 11-13 show in Kewaunee County. The 3,500-cow-plus dairy with an 80-stall rotary parlor is operated by Randy and Renee Ebert, children Jordan and Whitney and their staff of employees.

Thirty-eight trams and five buses will load between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. by the University of Wisconsin-Extension education area on the west side of Tent City for farm tours and field demonstrations. Tours are handicapped-accessible. Participants won’t be able to disembark during the tours, said John Blazei of Kewaunee, co-chair of the tours and field-demonstrations committee.

ALGOMA, Wis. — Agriculture has roots that run deep and broad in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin, the host county for the 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days to be held July 11-13.

An 8-acre heritage tractor and equipment area will feature equipment that was made in Kewaunee County as well as in Wisconsin. There will be makes and models to trigger memories and reminiscences a plenty, and for younger generations to explore agriculture’s past.

Jefferson County will host Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, July 23-25, 2019. The annual three-day event will be held at Walter Grain Farms near Grellton, Wisconsin, in northwest Jefferson County. Mike and Sarah Walter farm with their two sons and their wives – Adam and Heather Walter, and Brad and Kristi Walter. With combined and separate business operations, the Walter family grows corn, soybeans, winter wheat and alfalfa on more than 6,000 acres.

Mike Walter’s parents, Bernard and Beverly Walter, hosted Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in 1984. The Walter family joins a small group of other farm families who have hosted Wisconsin Farm Technology Days more than once.

ALGOMA, Wis. – A 25-foot-tall lighthouse will guide attendees of Wisconsin Farm Technology Days as they navigate their way to Innovation Square. There they’ll see new technological advances and a farm market featuring several of the area’s diverse food and drink offerings.

This year’s farm event will be held July 11-13 at Ebert Enterprises in Kewaunee County. The eight-sided lighthouse was built for Farm Technology Days by Tom Jerabek, a Kewaunee County carpenter, along with a team of volunteers. The lighthouse reflects the importance of Lake Michigan to the county, said Bill Roethle, who co-chairs the Innovation Square subcommittee with Will Hewett.

Infrared cameras to detect infection, iPads to score cows’ hooves for digital dermatitis, adenosine triphosphate – ATP – meters to determine cleanliness, and gas-monitoring systems and masks are among the many new technologies being used in dairy production. The innovations will be the focus of discussion at the University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Education Station at the 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.

UW-Extension specialists and county agriculture educators also will be discussing how dairy producers can breed for increased female calvings and/or beef-cross calves to sell. Producers are encouraged to visit a crossbreeding display outside of the UW-Extension Education Station to learn about the economics involved and how the practice has worked for Ebert Enterprises, host of this year’s Wisconsin Farm Technology Days. Laptop computers will be available to run spreadsheets and view breeding strategies. UW-Extension specialists will present budgets so dairy producers can see costs and income possibilities.

ALGOMA, Wis. – Alumni from the University of Wisconsin-System and Wisconsin Technical Colleges are invited to visit the alumni tent at 1 p.m. each day during Kewaunee County’s 2017 Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, to be held July 11-13 at Ebert Enterprises, N6939 County Highway D in Algoma. The tent will be located at the heart of Tent City, on North 6th Street between Central Avenue and Wisconsin Avenue.

The tent is sponsored by the agricultural programs at the UW-Madison, UW-Platteville, UW-River Falls and the Technical Colleges of Wisconsin. Each campus will have a display as well as representatives to answer questions all day throughout the show.

KEWAUNEE, Wis. – Agriculture is Kewaunee County’s bread and butter.

Farmers own and manage 176,735 acres or 81 percent of the land in the 2017 Farm Technology Days’ host county. Almost 21 percent of the county’s workforce is employed in agriculture – 2,058 jobs. And agriculture accounts for about $424 million in economic activity, almost 25 percent of the county’s total. Thus it’s easy to see why Kewaunee County is so fired up to host one of the largest outdoor farm shows in the country.

Groundwater contamination has been a controversial issue in Kewaunee County and will be addressed July 13 at the University of Wisconsin-Extension Education Station at Wisconsin Farm Technology Days.

At 11 a.m. July 13 Ken Bradbury, director and state geologist of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, will discuss the geology and hydroecology of Kewaunee County. He will address where the county’s water comes from, where it goes and its susceptibilities to contamination.