Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - An infamous agricultural mogul has chosen UW-Platteville's Pioneer Farm to facilitate a change in his professional career. Tom Cox, a professor of agricultural and applied economics for more than 20 years at UW-Madison, is best known for his research on interregional domestic and international dairy policy. He chose to do his sabbatical at Pioneer Farm based on research and practices being conducted at the farm in regards to agricultural sustainability. "I am intrigued by what Pioneer Farm is doing," said Cox, "Part of the reason why I'm here is to contribute to and help nurture the research environment, especially the economic side. But, to do high quality, science based research is not enough. Pioneer Farm is on the verge of becoming not only a great research venue, but a dynamic teaching and public service venue too; its facilities are ideal for education and outreach." In a state where the perception is that large agricultural operations are the only way to profit in agriculture, Cox is looking to Pioneer Farm as a research foundation to improve the profitability and sustainability of small and medium, as well as large farms. By helping Pioneer Farm develop economic research and production protocols targeted towards sustainable agricultural practices, and publish his research in scientific journals, Cox hopes others will follow and see evidence that there are alternative practices in agriculture that could improve environmental performance and farm financial viability. "Pioneer Farm is a hybrid of the UW (Madison) and Discovery Farms research models, and has a scientific foundation for providing insights into more intelligent policy making," said Cox.

As increasing Federal, State and local legislation continues to impact the agricultural industry, Cox views Pioneer Farm as a research based response to exploring management tools that maximize freedom for farmers within the context of increasing environmental constraints. As a small farmer himself, he is concerned that nobody is going to want to get into the agriculture industry if everything has a tagline to it. "If you take good care of the environment and people, you can make serious money," said Cox referring to a business model called the Triple Bottom Line. This model suggests managing for balance among the economic, environmental and social dimensions of a business, rather than narrowly maximizing short term profits or growth. This means that so long as a farmer utilizes sustainable agriculture and builds relationships with employees and customers, he can increase the potential to have a profitable operation. This is, in part, how the Wisconsin Agricultural Stewardship Initiative was founded. The WASI is a statewide collaboration between producers, agricultural industry, public and environmental interest groups, government, and the UW System to evaluate agricultural practices and help to form policies based on practices that will enhance the environment and generate a profit. Pioneer Farm, Discovery Farms and UW Consortium are three core components of the WASI program. "Tom is a fantastic addition to WASI. He truly is capable of helping fill the information gap related to economics of farming. We are privileged to have a researcher of Tom's caliber join us here at Pioneer Farm. He really gets what we are doing here," said Tom Hunt, Pioneer Farm director of research and outreach. Cox, currently working with Jim Leverich, UW Extension farm research coordinator, has developed a list of topics to pursue at Pioneer Farm during his time off from teaching. They include: Economics of grazing high value agricultural ground (published Illinois reports have shown that rotational grazing can return up to three times more compared to traditional cash grain cropping); Estimating the cost of research at Pioneer Farm; Farm management implications from viewing manure as a profit center; and Analytical tools to help farmers improve management (Farm Optimization Program). "It's all very, very exciting," concluded Cox. Cox and Leverich, are looking at integrating their statewide environmental-ag programs with other complementary agricultural initiatives such as the Wisconsin Buffer Initiative (www.drs.wisc.edu/wbi/) and the Dept. of Natural Resources Green Tier (www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/cea/environmental/), and with other WASI research. "The university is extremely pleased Tom has chosen to do his sabbatical at Pioneer Farm. To host visiting farmers, professors, students and other professionals to complete their research is exactly what was envisioned for the research component at Pioneer Farm," said Carol Sue Butts, UW-Platteville provost and vice chancellor.

Cox was raised in the dairy country of northern New York where he spent most of his youth outdoors in the forests and mountains. He is a nature lover by heart, which is why he has an interest in agriculture, "It's a career where you could be outside," he said, and why he started his own beef operation. He received his B.A. in science, technology and society from Vassar College, and received his M.S. and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Texas A&M University. Some of Cox's previous work includes: applied consumption (demand) analysis (his Ph.D. work was on potato demand); marketing and production of fruits and vegetables (mostly in south Texas); productivity and efficiency measurement in agriculture; US, EU, Canadian and world dairy marketing/policy for the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, USDA, OECD, FAO and the World Bank as well as M & M Mars. "I bought a little farm in Southwest Wisconsin and just fell in love with the rock bluffs. I have started a small 'natural' grazed beef operation with five animals this year. I do manage intensive grazing and rotational grazing. I'm learning," he said. Cox works with his neighbor who has beef and sheep. "The best way to do it is to start with a reasonable plan and then learn from your mistakes."

Pioneer Farm was developed to provide agricultural and environmental research in a production setting representative of the Southwest Wisconsin and Upper Mississippi Basin Loess Hills. It is envisioned that the data collected by Pioneer Farm and other WASI research sites will be used to improve conservation practices, produce scientific data that can be used to develop reasonable and effective environmental legislation and serve as the basis for profitable and expanding agriculture in the upper Midwest. If you are interested in learning more about UW-Platteville's Pioneer Farm, please visit the webpage atwww.uwplatt.edu/pioneerfarm or call (608) 342-1850.

Contact and prepared by: Leeann Lonsdorf, communications and outreach coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Pioneer Farm, (608) 778-1884,lonsdorl@uwplatt.edu