Winchester Academy speaker to discuss modern agriculture

Deller

Steven Deller will present “Current Agricultural Trends in Wisconsin” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at the Waupaca Area Public Library.

Hosted by Winchester Academy of Waupaca, the program is free and open to the public.

Wisconsin’s history is closely tied with agriculture. In 1848, when the state was founded, two out of every three residents lived on a farm. By 1935, there were just fewer than 200,000 farms in Wisconsin, and since that time, the number of farms and total acreage in farming have steadily declined.

While large farms dominate Wisconsin’s agricultural landscape, small diverse farms appear to be a growing phenomenon. Since 1992, the number of small farms doubled, while during the same time period, mid-sized farms declined by about a third.

Deller, an affiliate of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, will explain the “growth in the largest and smallest farms and a hollowing out of medium-sized farms.”

He will focus on farmland trends, farm and farmer demographics, and threats to Wisconsin agriculture.

Deller works with the UW-Extension, the Nelson School of Environmental Studies, and the Wisconsin Department of Urban and Regional Planning centers.

He received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Western Illinois University and both his master’s degree in economics and his doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has researched and published extensively in the fields of both agriculture and economics.

Winchester Academy is funded through sponsors and tax-deductible donations from community members who support the Academy. Donations are tax deductible.

Steven Deller’s program is sponsored by Carol Elvery and Bruce Inkmann.

For more information about Winchester Academy check winchesteracademywaupaca.org, follow on Facebook, or contact Executive Director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2927 or [email protected]