Knowing what the weather is going to be doing is crucial for farmers and anyone else working in agriculture to do their job effectively. A new technology called Wisconet is in the process of rolling out across the state. This will provide timely and accurate forecasts for farmers and others.
Chris Vagasky is tasked with bringing this technology to life. Vagasky shares that this technology has been wanted in Wisconsin for decades now. A large part of the delay was due to funding.
“Wisconsin is one of about 15 states nationwide that doesn’t have a full statewide weather network,” said Vagasky. That will now change due to grants from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and USDA Rural Partnerships Institute.
The goal is to have one station in every county. There will be some areas of the state that will have a higher density of stations like the Door Peninsula and the Central Sands. This is due to the those being particular growing regions that can rely on good, high quality weather data.
Currently, there are 14 stations. This year they are expanding by 6 to 10. For the next two years they will be adding 20 to 25 until they are fully operational in 2026.
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