Staff
The UW Spooner Agricultural Research Station is a unique facility that houses multiple UW Faculty. This administrative arrangement is referred to as the “Northern Wisconsin Ag Initiative” (NWAI). The NWAI’s main objective is to combine the skills and expertise of these University of Wisconsin Faculty and Staff to better serve the needs of the surrounding community.
Faculty
Phil Holman, Agronomy Researcher
Superintendent – Retiring June 2026
pholman@wisc.edu
1036 E Maple Street
Spooner, WI 54801
715-635-3735
Phil Holman is the Superintendent and Agronomy Project Researcher at the Spooner Ag Research Station. He grew up on a dairy farm near Barronett. During summers while in college, Phil worked as a Limited Term Employee at the Spooner Ag Research Station. He earned his B.S. in Ag Business from UW-River Falls and his M.S. in Agronomy (Soil Science) from South Dakota State University. His Masters Degree work focused on nitrogen leaching to the groundwater under different tillage systems. Phil previously was a UW-Extension Agriculture Agent at Spooner and taught Agriscience courses for Chippewa Valley Technical College.
Dr. Danyang Liu
Superintendent
Dr. Danyang Liu is the Superintendent and Research Program Manager at the Spooner Ag Research Station.
Dr. Danyang Liu is a horticultural scientist with a unique blend of experience across academic research, commercial agriculture, and Extension. He has served as a researcher, grower, and farm manager—combining scientific insight with hands-on production leadership.
He grew up in a small coastal city in northeastern China. Dr. Liu earned his Ph.D. in Horticulture from Virginia Tech, where he focused on sustainable strawberry production, soil health, and anaerobic soil disinfestation. His postdoctoral works at Clemson University, and master’s works at University of Florida further expanded his expertise in crop responses to abiotic stresses including heat and flooding.
His crop experience spans small fruits, peanuts, beans, and cover crops, in both field and controlled environments. In the private sector, Dr. Liu led R&D and site operations at an autonomous, robotic strawberry greenhouse, where he oversaw commercial production, plant health, pest management, and integration of sensor-based monitoring systems. Building on this background, he maintains a strong professional interest in utilizing sensors, AI-based systems, and precision agriculture technologies to advance modern crop management.
With core interests in soil health, climate resilience, IPM, and inclusive outreach, Dr. Liu works closely with university teams to ensure their agricultural research is successful and reliable. He looks forward to supporting northwest Wisconsin community through collaborative research and impactful, community-based programming.
Contact: dliu376@wisc.edu
Kevin Schoessow, University of Wisconsin-Extension
Area Agricultural Development Agent
Retired September 2025
kevin.schoessow@wisc.edu
1036 E Maple Street
Spooner, WI 54801
715-635-3506
Kevin Schoessow is the Area Ag Development Agent for UW-Extension in Burnett, Sawyer, and Washburn Counties. In addition to providing information and education to area farmers on crops and soils and alternative agriculture, Kevin also provides information and education in home and commercial horticulture. Some of his horticulture responsibilities include coordinating the Master Gardener Volunteer Program for the Tri-county area, managing the Teaching and Display garden at the Spooner Ag Research Station and organizing horticulture workshops and field days. He has a special interest in soil ecology and composting. Kevin received both his M.S. and B.S. in Soil Science from the UW-Madison and from UW-River Falls.
Richard Otto Wiegand, University of Wisconsin-Extension
Area Agricultural Agent, Retired, Emeritus
Retired July 2017
rowiegand@wisc.edu
1036 E Maple Street
Spooner, WI 54801
715-635-3506
Mr. Wiegand is a retired Agricultural Agent Emeritus working previously for Burnett, Sawyer, and Washburn Counties specializing in livestock and grazing. He moved here from Madison where he spent the previous five years working as a consultant for dairy in the private sector and also teaching at a technical college.
He was born on a 120-acre Jersey dairy farm in Cleveland in southern Manitowoc County and obtained a Bachelors degree in Dairy Science from UW-Madison in 1970. Between two stints with the Peace Corps in Kenya and Paraguay, Otto worked for his father on the farm and did odd jobs off the farm. In the 1980s, after obtaining a Masters in African Studies from Ohio University, he operated the farm for six years, expanding from 28 to 45 cows.
In 1988, Otto left the farm to work on a Masters and PhD in Dairy Science Nutrition at UW-Madison, finishing in 1995. He did his field work in Ethiopia where he fed tree leaves to sheep. He then worked for Agri-Management, a dairy placement company in Madison, the African Development Bank in Ivory Coast, and New Age Computers in his hometown before his five years at Dairy Strategies in Madison with part-time teaching at Northeast Technical College in Green Bay. Otto also did short-term international work with Dairy Strategies in Costa Rica and Holland, and with the Babcock Institute in Cyprus.
Otto has brought considerable experience to farmers and residents of northwest Wisconsin in dairy business planning, placement and teaching. He also has interests in international issues, historic preservation, land conservancy and the environment in general. Otto is an avid traveler, likes bicycling and enjoys taking photographs. In his retirement, he is writing his autobiography and plans on traveling more with the Farmer-to-Farmer international education program.
Staff
Josh Schloneger, Agricultural Research Equipment Operator
Mike Scheffel, Agricultural Laborer TE
Jaimee Campbell, Office Manager
