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Preserving the quality, safety and accessibility of Wisconsin water supply is a top priority for the state’s farmers, elected officials, community members, city and county administrators and consumers. A daylong tour in the Verona, Wis., area will give participants a firsthand view of innovations and partnerships to protect water quality in rapidly-growing urban areas.

The Water Matters Tour, hosted by UW Discovery Farms® and Professional Dairy Producers® (PDPW), will be held on Thurs., June 26, 2018 with chartered bus transportation departing from Verona Park and Ride, Old Co Rd Pb, Verona, WI 53593, at 9:30 a.m. and returning at 3:30 p.m.

Tour stops will include:

• SunBurst Dairy, owned and operated by Brian and Yogi Brown and son Cory Brown. See the conservation and cropping strategies for the 500-cow dairy near Belleville, Wis. Brian is president of the Farmers for the Upper Sugar River farmer-led watershed group and will share what the group is doing to protect and enhance its water quality for future generations.

• Lunch and Discussion at Paoli Bread and Brat Haus and the Hop Garden. Enjoy lunch along the banks of the Sugar River and hear from Wade Moder, executive director of the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association, about their work to manage invasive aquatic life, and how the association is working together with farmers.

• City of Verona Public Works. Learn how the rise in population and the growing business demand in the city of Verona impacts storm-water management, infrastructure construction and inspection from Marty Cieslik, assistant director.

• Wisconsin Brewing Company. Tour the Verona-based brewery and learn about the role water plays in brewing and how the brewery handles processes for managing wastewater streams.

All tour participants will ride on chartered bus to allow for additional discussions between leaders, researchers, farmers and other participants.

Registration for the tour is open to the public for $30 per person and include bus travel, snacks, refreshments and lunch. To learn more about the program and to register, visit www.pdpw.org or contact PDPW at 1-800-947-7379. Follow along digitally in advance of and during the Conference by following @dairyPDPW and using #WaterMatters on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The Water Matters Tour is an accredited training and offers up to 4.5 Dairy AdvanCE continuing education units (CEUs) for each day. To learn more or secure credits, visit www.DairyAdvance.org.

Professional Dairy Producers (PDPW) is the nation's largest dairy producer-led organization of its kind, focusing on producer professionalism, stakeholder engagement and unified outreach to share ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed."