As the Wisconsin Dairy Task Force 2.0 launches into its work this fall, a number of CALS personnel have been called on to participate in the efforts.

The Task Force was created in June of this year as a joint effort between DATCP and the UW System. At that time, Mark Stephenson, director of the Center for Dairy Profitability and extension dairy policy economist in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, was named chairman of the Task Force. The goal of the project is to study the Wisconsin dairy industry and make recommendations regarding how to maintain a vibrant dairy industry in the state.

More recently, additional CALS personnel have been tapped to participate in various sub-committees and offer their expertise, as non-voting participants. They will serve as resources for the official Task Force members, actively engaging in discussions and answering technical questions that arise during Task Force meetings and sub-committee meetings.

The following CALS personnel are involved, participating in the sub-committees mentioned:

• Steven Deller (professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics) – Dairy and Community
• Joy Kirkpatrick (senior outreach specialist, Center for Dairy Profitability) – Next Generation Transfer and Transition
• John Lucey (professor, Food Science) – Product and Process Innovation and Invention
• Kent Weigel (professor and chair, Dairy Science) – Product and Process Innovation and Invention

As issues and concerns get refined and as ideas to mitigate those concerns are formulated, the Task Force membership will ultimately vote to decide which ideas will be put forward as formal recommendations.

Sub-committees started meeting earlier this month, and meetings will continue into November. The full Task Force will reconvene on Dec. 13 with initial reports from the sub-committees. Additional CALS personnel may be called on to help, as needs are identified by the various sub-committees.

For more info about the task force, visit https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Growing_WI/DairyTaskForce.aspx.