Noise - You And Your Animals Are Affected Plus A Farm Bill Update

The excitement of electing a new president is a time honored tradition like no other, and electing a new Wisconsin FFA state President is no exception especially when it has taken place for 96 years.  Aubrey Schlimgen introduces us to Amalia Draxler, who has been named the New Wisconsin State FFA President for the 2025-2026 year. Amalia expresses her commitment and love to the blue jacket and shares about her background on how she got to where is today. And there are many things to celebrate including many records being broken such as record attendance of over 4,500 and a new membership number of over 27,000.  Cheryl Zimmerman, the Executive director of the Wisconsin Association of FFA, gives us more insight into all of the excitement and what has been taken in this historic year and her role with it all.

The rain this morning will give way to sun and heat this afternoon.  Stu Muck says the real danger starts to build for the weekend.

Still no conclusion on the horizon to the Farm Bill. Congress was supposed to write an updated Farm Bill in 2023, but it didn't happen. Two, one-year extensions later, and agricultural groups continue to push for the new legislation as farmers operate under a 2018 version. Steve Etka, policy director for the Midwest Dairy Coalition, talks with Stephanie Hoff about the baby steps they're taking.  He says there's a lot of talk about splitting the Farm Bill up, and doing some of the work through budget reconciliation -- a fast-track legislative procedure used to pass certain budget-related bills -- a process Congress is in right now. "(It's) a big macro bill that deals with taxes, and deals with border security, and deals with energy, and they're talking about having it deal with some of the provisions of the Farm Bill as well," Etka explains. "We're kind of waiting to see what unfolds there. Our main message is that the safety net for dairy needs to be updated." He notes the farm economy has changed since 2018, including production and average herd size, requiring an updated structure to the Dairy Margin Coverage. We're hoping that, whether it's through reconciliation or a full-scale farm bill, those provisions can be included," Etka says.

Markets are closed for Juneteenth, but dairy gave up enough on Wednesday.  Pam Jahnke also gives an update on policy getting bipartisan support at the state house that would hopefully improve rural health care options.  Sen. Patrick Testin says this legislation's been around the capitol in different forms for over a decade.  Now, it's hopefully on its way to the governor's desk for approval. The Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Modernization Act was passed by both the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly. The APRN Modernization Act authorizes qualified registered nurses to practice independently and without the need for a collaborative agreement with a physician – so long as the cases do not fall outside their areas of expertise. 


Have you ever thought about the noise level on the average farm?  It's not just about your personal tolerance, it's also about employees and even the animals!  A recent study shows that common noise on a farm can have an impact on the cattle and the workers. Nesli Akdeniz is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist of Controlled Environments in Livestock Production. She tells Ben Jarboe about a recent study where she moved around dairy farms to detect the decibel levels that occur. Akdeniz says that at 85 decibels hearing damage can start to occur. Luckily the average range is between 52 to 83 decibels on a dairy farm. Although when summer comes around the fans in barns can cause higher levels. She says wearing hearing protection and monitoring the cattles actions can help dictate what the best course of action is for reducing noise level for a stress free and safe envir