Introducing a weekly ag column by the UW-Extension Crop Educator

I’ve been involved with education at an early age. My family has several hunter safety instructors, which got me involved at a young age. I’ve been an instructor for over 10 years and have always enjoyed working with the community. I attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where I continued my passion for natural resources.

I found my love for soil and received a bachelor’s degree in Soil and Land Management. During my time at UWSP I became very active with both the student and parent chapters of the Izaak Walton League of America, which is an organization dedicated to conservation. I served as both secretary and president of the student chapter and planned several youth programs with education centered around conservation and outdoor recreation.

While finishing my undergraduate degree, I interned as a crop scout in the Central Sands region of Wisconsin scouting potatoes, carrots, corn, and soybeans. This is where I decided I wanted to find a career within the agriculture industry.

After receiving my bachelor’s degree, I accepted a position as a Graduate Research Assistant within the Horticulture Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison to pursue a master’s degree in horticulture. My main research focused on alternative fruit and vegetable crops for Wisconsin and innovative production systems.

On my quest for alternative crops I spent two summers monitoring fruit crops such as Honeyberry, Kiwi berry, Lingonberry, and Goji berry and met with some interesting and variable results. I also monitored several alternative vegetable crops such as the perennial Walking Onion and the Bambara Groundnut, a legume indigenous to Africa that grows much like peanuts and is packed with protein.

The other portion of my research focused on increasing vegetable competitiveness against weed species through plant growth regulators.

I finished my master’s in April 2022 and quickly started in the regional crop educator position with UW-Madison Extension. I am very passionate about many aspects of conservation including soil health. Though many things can influence soil health, I chose to specialize my main programming area on pest management, which fits with my previous educational and field experience.

I am very excited to bring my wide range of knowledge to the agricultural communities in Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth counties and look forward to learning more about this region’s role in the agriculture world.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or if you would like to chat. I’m available by phone at (920)-723-2843 or email at Jordan.schuler@wisc.edu.