Gov. Evers Announces Budget Investments to Support Wisconsin’s Farmers, Producers, Agricultural Industries Statewid

“Our farmers, farm families, and producers have been the backbone of our state for generations. Whether it’s been supporting the future research and workforce this industry needs to keep up with the demands of the 21st Century, ensuring rural communities have good roads, broadband, and water infrastructure to be successful, or fighting to make sure farmers have the support and mental health resources they need, I’m proud of our work to support Wisconsin farmers and farm families over the past six years. Our next state budget will continue to build upon our efforts to invest our farmers, producers, and agricultural industries,” said Gov. Evers. “Wisconsin’s agricultural industries are not only vital to our state’s economic success, they are part of our DNA as Wisconsinites and our culture and heritage. We’re going to keep working to support this vital industry and the farm families who make it all possible.”

“Gov. Evers has been a leader in supporting the producers, processors, and rural communities in our state,” said DATCP Secretary Romanski. “Today’s announcement demonstrates Gov. Evers’ continued investment in agriculture in Wisconsin and the future of the industry for years to come. Whether focused on dairy, conservation, farmer mental health, or supporting the connection between farm gate and dinner plate, Gov. Evers’ budget will continue to strategically invest and support Wisconsin’s place as an agricultural leader.”

Gov. Evers recognizes that Wisconsin’s agricultural industry is as critical to the state economy as it is to Wisconsin’s heritage and culture, and ensuring its continued growth and success for generations to come will be critical to ensuring Wisconsin’s continued growth and success. The governor’s budget proposal makes several key investments to support Wisconsin farmers, farm families, and the agricultural industry as a whole.

Supporting Farmers and Farm Operations Statewide 
Gov. Evers’ 2025-27 Executive Budget will invest in farmers and their operations statewide to support efficiency, resilience, and economic growth for years to come, including:

• $1.5 million to create a new pilot Dairy Agriculture Resilience Investment Now Grant (DARING) Program aimed at supporting on-farm projects that improve resilience and efficiency of farm operations, such as upgrading IT infrastructure, milking equipment, or milk processing equipment;
• $15 million to relaunch the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements (PACE) Program that was created in 2009 to help farm owners and local communities keep farmland for agricultural use;
• Expanding the Farmland Preservation program to allow funding to be used for implementing certified farmland preservation plans and increasing the cap on statewide total Agricultural Enterprise Areas (AEAs) from 2 million to 3 million;
• Doubling current funding for the farmer mental health support initiatives through DATCP’s Farmer Wellness Program that provides a 24/7 crisis helpline, counselor vouchers, and virtual counseling services for farmers and their families with a $400,000 investment;
• Expanding the Wisconsin Farm Center in Northern Wisconsin by providing additional funding and staff resources to support its work in doing localized outreach and field work in communities;
• An additional $171,300 and one full-time position for DATCP to continue administering the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports, which was created by Gov. Evers in 2021 to promote Wisconsin exports, to continue to support farmers and producers wanting to expand into new markets and increase output. The proposal also removes a cap on the total amount of funding that DATCP can expend per year, providing more flexibility for this initiative;
• More than $3.7 million to reimburse corn farmers up to 50 percent of the total cost of purchasing seed treatment that discourages fowl, especially Sandhill Cranes, from eating their seed;
• $800,000 to create a Value-Added Agricultural Grant Program to help producers create and market value-added products, which are products that undergo a physical change to increase value, such as berries into jam or wheat into flour;
• $171,300 and one full-time position to create an Agricultural Economist position at DATCP to improve its ability to analyze financial, production, federal and marketing data and help inform decisions related to long-term import and export viability;
• Creating “truth-in-labeling” protections for milk and dairy products to prohibit advertising or labeling products as milk or dairy unless the product is made from a cow or another mammal’s milk;
• Creating “truth-in-labeling” protections for manoomin (wild rice) to ensure that only manoomin harvested by traditional techniques uses the label “traditionally harvested”; and
• $400,000 in total new funding to increase funding for the Something Special from Wisconsin program, which is a trademark marketing program to promote the buying and selling of locally made and produced products.

Strengthening the Supply Chain and Addressing Food Insecurity 
Wisconsin’s farmers and producers feed families in Wisconsin and around the globe, ensuring grocery store shelves and household cupboards are stocked with healthy, nutritious food. Gov. Evers’ budget proposal will include investments to support the state’s supply chain while fighting food insecurity, including:

Promoting Producer-Led Conservation Efforts
Gov. Evers knows that Wisconsin farmers are key partners in the work to protect and preserve the state’s natural resources. Therefore, the governor’s biennial budget proposal includes several investments to help farmers and producers in planning and implementing innovative projects to protect soil, water, and air, including:

• $1 million in additional funding for the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program that supports groups working to conduct outreach, provide on-farm demonstration and research sites, and promote voluntary agricultural conservation practices in their local watersheds to improve water quality and prevent runoff;
• $10 million for the Soil and Water Resource Management (SWRM) Program to help fund county soil and water conservation staff and support expenditures, as well as landowner conservation projects that provide improved protection for soil and water;
• $1.6 million to continue funding for the Cover Crop Insurance Rebate Program that was signed into law by Gov. Evers in 2021 to support farmers in planting cover crops on their lands to improve soil fertility and moisture holding capacity and limit nutrient runoff;
• $1.2 million to increase funding for the Commercial Nitrogen Optimization Program, which helps farmers research and perform trials on their lands to ensure the amount of nitrogen being applied on their lands is appropriate and effective while identifying ways to reduce runoff into water as nitrate and making it a permanent state program;
• $500,000 to support farmers in planning and operating biodigesters on their facilities to provide a new revenue stream and support farmers in their efforts to reduce on-the-farm emissions;
• $1 million to create a new Transition to Grass program that will support farmers who are implementing livestock grass-based managed grazing systems and farmers and agribusinesses in the grass-fed livestock business to reduce runoff and protect waters; and
• An increase of $12.7 million over the biennium for county conservation staffing who are the “on the ground” experts who work to reduce pollution and flooding, support producer-led watershed groups, help farmers develop nutrient management plans, and help administer the Farmland Preservation program to assist farmers in keeping their farms. This brings total funding for the program to $30.5 million.

Additional Efforts to Improve Water Quality Statewide and Protect Innocent Landowners
Today’s announcement comes as, yesterday, Gov. Evers announced new comprehensive plans from his upcoming 2025-27 Executive Budget to combat per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination statewide, protect kids and families from harmful water contaminants in 2025, the Year of the Kid, and expand access to clean and safe drinking water for Wisconsinites across the state.  The governor announced his budget proposal will:

The governor also announced he is approving a new rulemaking effort to strengthen PFAS standards statewide by adopting public health-based groundwater standards for six PFAS in light of newly available science. The six PFAS include the contaminant compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA, commonly known as GenX Chemicals).

BACKGROUND ON GOV. EVERS’ EFFORTS TO SUPPORT WISCONSIN FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES 
Gov. Evers has long been a champion for Wisconsin’s agricultural and farm communities, including creating the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports to boost the export of dairy, meat, crop, and other products by 25 percent, increasing funding for meat and dairy processing to support the state’s supply chain, and supporting farmer mental health through increased funding for DATCP’s Farmer Wellness Program through the Wisconsin Farm Center. A comprehensive but not exhaustive list of Gov. Evers’ efforts to support Wisconsin farmers, farm families, rural communities, and agricultural industries across the state over the past six years is available below.