The Wisconsin Association of County Agricultural Agents (WACAA) recently recognized several members during their annual banquet in Wisconsin Dells.  An affiliate of the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA), WACAA is a professional organization for county, area, and state Extension professionals to encourage excellence and professionalism in their work; improve effectiveness of Wisconsin Extension programs; provide assistance for agents to seek and participate in professional improvement opportunities, and recognize and promote superior achievement.  Those who received top communication awards included:

Sara Mills-Lloyd, Oconto County Agriculture Agent for her Personal Column about dairy barn fan maintenance, and her Published Photo & Caption of a county fair beef exhibitor.  Jennifer Blazek, Dane County Dairy & Livestock Agent for her Computer Generated Graphics Presentation on HR training for dairy farms, as well as her Feature Story about forage inventory evaluation. Katie Wantoch, Dunn County Agriculture Agent for her Farm City Day program Promotional Piece.  Richard Halopka, Clark County Crops and Soils Agent for his Individual Newsletter.  George Koepp, Columbia County Agriculture Agent for his Team Newsletter with local partners.  Trisha Wagner, Jackson County Agriculture Agent and Liz Binversie, Brown County Agriculture Agent for their Video Production on safe handling of Ag chemicals for Spanish speaking employees.  Amanda Young, Dodge County Dairy & Livestock Agent for her Fact Sheet about everyday genetics for dairy producers (currently a finalist for the NACAA national award).  Sandy Stuttgen, Taylor County and Sara Mills-Lloyd, Oconto County Agriculture Agents, for their co-authored Publication about gastrointestinal parasites in cattle.  Aerica Bjurstrom, Kewaunee County Agriculture Agent for her Website design. Heather Schlesser, Marathon County Dairy & Livestock Agent and Sandy Stuttgen, Taylor County Agriculture Agent for a two day farm financial management Learning Module they developed and delivered along with three other state Extension specialists (also a finalist for the NACAA national award).

Aerica Bjurstrom, Kewaunee County also received the WACAA Search for Excellence in Livestock Production for her work developing and implementing an outstanding dairy hoof health extension education program through a joint research and publication effort with colleagues in northeast Wisconsin.  Joy Kirkpatrick, UW-Madison Center for Dairy Profitability, received the WACAA Distinguished Service Award for her more than ten years of work as a member of Cooperative Extension providing outstanding support for farm transfer and succession planning programs.  Katie Wantoch, Dunn County Agriculture Agent, also received the Agriculture Awareness and Appreciation award for her work with the Chippewa Valley Farm-City two-day event, as well as the WACAA Achievement Award for Agriculture Agents with less than ten years of experience for her work providing outstanding programs and support for farm business management and rural economic development in west central WI.

Dr. Brian Luck, Extension Farm Machinery Specialist in the Biological Systems Engineering Department at UW-Madison along with Dr. Patty McManus, Extension Fruit Crop Disease Specialist and Chair of the Department of Plant Pathology at UW-Madison received the annual WACAA Second Mile Award for their exceptional effort supporting Wisconsin County Agricultural Agents in carrying out their educational programs.  Corey Geiger, Managing Editor for Hoard’s Dairyman Magazine, was recognized as the annual “Friend of the County Agent” for his support and sponsorship of the Wisconsin Association of County Agricultural Agents annual communication awards, as well as his continued support for Extension work through Hoard’s world renowned multi-media dairy industry print and digital publications.

In addition to Hoard’s Dairyman, WACAA awards were also sponsored by the WI Agriculturist; the WI Broadcasters Association; the Country Today, and A&T Industries.

If you need individual photos for articles, please retrieve them from the Award Winners folder or contact Greg Blonde at greg.blonde@wisc.edu.