Agricultural Research Stations

Troy Fishler is the superintendent of UW-Madison’s Hancock Agricultural Research Station located in central Wisconsin. He has been employed in Wisconsin’s potato industry since 2005. He spent his first 10 years in the industry working for Frito Lay’s Potato Breeding Research Facility in Rhinelander, WI specializing in storage research and variety commercialization before starting at UW-Madison in 2014, after accepting his previous role managing the UW’s Potato & Vegetable Storage Research Facility.

Yi Wang is an associate professor with a research focus on sustainable vegetable production and precision agriculture. The goal of her research and extension program is to conduct science-based applied research and collaborate with the vegetable growers and processors to improve the resource use efficiency and sustainability of vegetable cropping systems in Wisconsin.

Mike Bertram, director of the Arlington Agricultural Research Station, will be giving an overview of the station including a brief history of the station followed by an introduction to the different types of research being conducted around the station. Then Professor Laura Hernandez will be sharing her work on lactation physiology, one example of the type of important research being done at the Arlington station. Laura will speak on how we have been focused on using mammary ultrasound scanning as a method to determine the ability of the gland to produce milk. By initiating this study in dairy cows, we have been able to follow the animals since birth, and are currently monitoring a cohort through most of their second lactation. This dataset will not only be important for dairy cows, but will allow us to work collaborators in human medicine to perform pilot studies in women. The ability to ultrasound a pregnant woman and have some clue of how much milk they may or may not be able to produce will allow them to develop breastfeeding plans prior to parturition.

Laura Hernandez’s research is focused on the coordination of physiology during pregnancy and lactation. Her work is centered on improving health, physiology, metabolism, and well-being of moms.

Mike Bertram grew up on a dairy farm in Fond du Lac county. He has been with Ag Research Stations since graduating from UW-Madison with a degree in Agronomy. He started in Spooner, then Marshfield, and he has been managing the Arlington station since 2012.

UW Madison has long followed the tradition of the Wisconsin Idea, ensuring we impact peoples lives beyond the classroom and our campus borders. One way that UW Madison meets this mission head on is by having agricultural research stations embedded in Wisconsin’s communities. Travel with Mike Peters as we take a photo tour of the history, beauty, and impact of these Wisconsin treasures.

Mike Peters has served as the director of the Agricultural Research Stations for the last 7 years. In his 20 years with UW Madison he has served in various agricultural research and compliance roles. He prides himself in helping scientists and students succeed, and makes it his personal mission to guarantee agricultural research work receives the TLC needed to ensure UW is a continual leader in feeding the world.

Janet Hedtcke, Superintendent of the 570-acre West Madison Agricultural Research Station, and Bill Tracy, UW-Madison Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences Professor, talks with host Buzz Kemper about the station’s essential role in Wisconsin agriculture. The station is home to a diverse array of field and horticultural crops, a composting operation, and a public display garden. Together, they explore how its research supports sustainable farming practices and strengthens food security across the state. Discover how variety trials and innovative techniques are paving the way for a resilient future in Wisconsin agriculture.

Since 2017, Janet Hedtcke has been superintendent at West Madison Agricultural Research after serving as assistant superintendent there for several years. Janet grew up on a dairy farm near Milton in Rock County and came to UW-Madison to earn her Master’s degree in Dairy Science and Agronomy in 1999. She then worked for 13 years as a research specialist in Agronomy managing cropping systems research. At WMARS, Janet stays busy with facilitating research and land use on its 570-acres that includes a wide array of field crops, horticultural crops, a compost operation and a public display garden.

Professor Bill Tracy William is in the Department of Agronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a prominent sweet corn breeder. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Cornell University. Since joining UW-Madison in 1984, Bill has developed sweet corn inbreds for global markets and received numerous awards, including the Genetics and Plant Breeding Award and recognition as a Fellow of the Crop Science Society of America.