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

MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers, together with Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) Secretary Randy Romanski, today announced his plans to invest more than $80 million in his 2025-27 Executive Budget that will be introduced later this month to support Wisconsin farmers and farm families, producers, and processors and the state’s $116 billion agricultural industry statewide.

“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:

• $30 million for the Food Security Initiative that was created by Gov. Evers during the pandemic to assist food banks with acquiring food, specifically from local farmers and producers, to keep pantry shelves stocked;
• $1.6 million in additional funding to support the Meat Processor Grant Program, which works to strengthen Wisconsin’s meat supply chain by supporting meat processors in the state;
• An additional $1.2 million to support the Dairy Processor Grant Program, which supports Wisconsin’s dairy processors to support the state’s dairy supply chain;
• Providing ongoing funding for the state’s Meat Talent Development Program that was created by Gov. Evers in 2022 to help attract, recruit, and train workers for the meat processing industry and provide support to students in Wisconsin in meat processing training programs;
• Increasing funding by $500,000 annually for the successful Tribal Elder Food Security Program that was created by Gov. Evers in the 2023-25 biennial budget to support nonprofit food assistance organizations to purchase and distribute culturally appropriate food to Tribal elders in partnership with Native Nations;
• $600,000 in additional funding for the Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Program that works to reduce the marketing, distribution, and processing hurdles that producers may face in getting their products to local consumers;
• Provide $768,400 and one full-time position to continue the successful Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Program, through which DATCP partners with USDA, local producers, distributors, food security organizations, and Tribal partners to provide program development, coordinate transportation and logistics, and procure food from local producers;
• $400,000 to create a Farm to Fork Grant Program to connect entities that are not school districts but that have cafeterias, such as businesses, universities, and hospitals, to nearby farms to provide locally produced fresh fruit, vegetable, dairy, and other food products;
• $100,000 annually to provide food waste reduction grants to advance efforts that reduce the amount of food waste disposed in landfills, increase the composting of food, or redirect spare food to hunger relief organizations; and
• Increasing capacity and resources for preparedness and response actions in DATCP’s Division of Animal Health to support secure food supply planning and disease response activities.

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:

• Invest over $145 million to address PFAS contamination across Wisconsin, from private well owners to municipalities and across surface, drinking, and groundwater, including:
  • Creating a PFAS Community Grant Program to assist municipal drinking water systems with testing for and eliminating PFAS from drinking water through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program;
  • Helping private well owners sample and test their private wells through a new County PFAS Well Testing Grant Program;
  • Researching effective destruction and disposal methods of PFAS and implementing proven strategies to dispose and eliminate PFAS;
  • Providing grants to local businesses and communities to help reduce or eliminate their use or release of PFAS into the environment;
  • Conducting statewide research, including sampling and testing for PFAS to better understand its prevalence;
  • Provide nearly $2 million in emergency resources to help provide safe, bottled water to households and communities impacted by water contamination;
  • Protect innocent landowners like farmers who unknowingly spread biosolids containing PFAS on their land from having to foot the bill for the clean up; and
  • Increase biosolid sampling, testing, and remediation for PFAS in biosolids and allocate $7 million in new funding to help innocent landowners and farmers remediate PFAS contamination;

• Expand eligibility for the state’s Well Compensation Grant Program to enable more Wisconsinites to participate in the program and make PFAS contaminants eligible so the program can support households replacing or adding a treatment system to their private water well;

• Adopt the Chemical Level Enforcement and Remediation (CLEAR) Act, which will make several changes to Wisconsin’s laws aimed at improving water quality across our state, including but not limited to:

• Exempting Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rulemaking relating to setting enforceable PFAS standards from the so-called “REINS Act,” which has stalled progress on strengthening Wisconsin’s water standards for years;

• Prohibiting land spreading of biosolids if the PFAS levels exceed levels set by DNR through permitting;

• Prioritizing PFAS-related municipal water infrastructure applications to the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program if PFAS levels exceed health advisory levels issued by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services; and

• Requiring site-specific clean up planning for entities that handle PFAS chemicals

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.

• After proposing to do so in his budgets, Gov. Evers created the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports in 2021 aimed at boosting the export of dairy, meat, crop, and other agricultural exports by 25 percent by June 2025 and supporting additional investments in this critical program, including $2 million over the biennium in the 2023-25 biennial budget signed by Gov. Evers. According to the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports, Wisconsin is currently ranked 11th in the nation for agricultural exports by state, up from 13th in 2021.
• Gov. Evers has supported increasing the state’s dairy processing capacity through additional investments for the Dairy Processor Grant Program, including $600,000 in the 2023-25 biennial budget.
• Gov. Evers created the Meat Processor Grant Program in the 2021-23 biennial budget and continued to bolster the program with an additional $1.6 million investment in the 2023-25 biennial budget to grow Wisconsin’s meat industry and ensure its long-term viability.
• Gov. Evers established the Meat Talent Development Grant Program in 2022 to help attract students to meat careers, provide financial support to students in Wisconsin meat processing training programs, support program development, and connect the meat processing industry with potential employees.
• The governor has also championed efforts to support farmer mental health and mental health resources for farm families, including continuing funding to support mental health counseling and the 24/7 crisis helpline through DATCP’s Farmer Wellness Program through the Wisconsin Farm Center with a $200,000 investment in the 2023-25 biennial budget.
• Through the 2023-25 biennial budget and additional legislation he signed into law, Gov. Evers created the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program with a $150 million investment to support local road improvement projects to help farmers get their products from point A to point B safely and efficiently.
• Gov. Evers has secured increases for the Producer-Led Watershed Grant Program in his previous budgets, including increasing the program’s funding to $1 million in the 2021-23 biennial budget and providing an additional one-time investment of $500,000 over the biennium in the 2023-25 biennial budget.
• Through 2021 Wisconsin Act 233, Gov. Evers created the commercial nitrogen optimization pilot and cover crop insurance programs to help protect soil and water resources and assist farmers with cover crop planting, and the 2023-25 biennial budget signed by Gov. Evers included $3.6 million to continue these programs.
• No administration has done more to expand access to high-speed internet for families across the state. Under Gov. Evers’ leadership, since 2019, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin has now awarded grants to help more than 410,000 homes and businesses access new or improved broadband services.
• The first budget signed by Gov. Evers also included an $8.8 million investment to support the development of the Dairy Innovation Hub at the University of Wisconsin System to boost dairy research and innovation.
• During the pandemic, Gov. Evers directed $100 million to support Wisconsin farmers in all 72 counties through the Wisconsin Farm Support Program.
• In 2020, Gov. Evers announced his three-pronged plan to support farmers, agricultural industries, and rural communities across Wisconsin, including creating the Wisconsin Office of Rural Prosperity at the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation to provide assistance to Wisconsinites in navigating state programs and resources tailored to rural communities, businesses, and workers, as well as signing Executive Order #65 creating the Blue Ribbon Commission on Rural Prosperity and Executive Order #64 calling the Legislature to meet in a special session to take up a package of bills to address rural economic challenges.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.