When you visit the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneer Farm, you will see a working farm consisting of 430 total acres with some of the best soil in southwest Wisconsin. You will see gently rolling fields managed with conservation in mind, planted with rotating crops of corn, oats, and alfalfa.
Our facilities have distinctive white siding and blue roofs. Dairy, swine, and beef operations provide hands-on experiences for students, and learning opportunities for visitors.
You may see students and researchers using the farm to learn and bring best practices of conservation and production into the future.
We welcome you to visit anytime.
History
Pioneer Farm has been an integral part of UW-Platteville since the inclusion of agriculture as an academic program in the early 1900s. The focus is on providing quality education, research, and outreach opportunities while promoting the agricultural industry.
In the early years, Pioneer Farm was a mirror of typical farms with a great deal of diversity from dairy, swine, beef, horses, poultry, and sheep. Following the trend of modern agriculture, the farm at UW-Platteville has streamlined to include enterprises interesting to the students and supporting organizations of the state of Wisconsin.
Mission
The mission has always been to maintain a working laboratory of production agriculture to demonstrate to students of all ages and levels. While technology and practices have evolved, the mission remains true today.
UW-Platteville Pioneer Farm supports the vitality of Wisconsin agriculture. Pioneer Farm's mission is to provide on-farm experiences for students, to evaluate management practices, to conduct systems and applied research, and to communicate education and research to students, agencies, producers, and the public.
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The School of Agriculture at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Pioneer Farm encourage ad endorse the human care and treatment of all animals. The welfare of all animals, including proper care, housing, management, nutrition, disease control and transportation, is promoted and administered. Minimizing stress for al animals is considered in all instructional and research situations. All personnel working with animals are informed of and instructed in proper procedures and necessary protocol for the welfare of animals.
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We ask that you read and follow the attached guidelines to assure that there is a minimal risk of carrying disease or infections into and out of our herds and that we can maintain public accessibility of our facilities for educational and demonstration use.
- All visitors must wear disposable plastic boots when visiting our facilities. Boots are provided at the entrances of our facilities.
- Visitors who have been in contact with livestock or have been on animal units within the past 48 hours must wear clothing and outer garments that were not worn on or have been laundered since the previous contact.
- All faculty, staff and students must wear either provided disposable boots or personal clean rubber boots when visiting or working in UW-Platteville Livestock Facilities. Rubber boots must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before entering and upon leaving the facility. Disposable boots must be new before entering the facility and thrown away upon leaving the facility. Alternatively, a dedicated pair of footwear should be located at the animal facility and used when entering the facility. Said dedicated footwear should never be used at any other animal facility.
- All faculty, staff and students should change into clean clothes or outer garments between visits from a non-university livestock facility and any off-site university animal unit. If faculty, staff and students visit animal facilities not affiliated with the university, they must wear disposable plastic boots or clean rubber boots. Rubber boots should be cleaned and disinfected and disposable boots discarded upon leaving that facility.
- It is the responsibility of all faculty, staff, students and visitors to maintain their own personal hygiene following contact with any livestock. Soap is provided in the restrooms located in the Educational, Swine and Dairy Centers for hand cleansing.
- The manager of the animal units should be notified of any tours.
- If you have any questions, please contact Chuck Steiner 608.342.1850, Alicia Prill-Adams 608.342.1119, or Cory Weigel 608.342.1328.