NEWS

DATCP awards grants to producer-led groups totaling $750,000

Wisconsin State Farmer
Participants at a field day with the Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance learn about how water penetrates soil pits, August 2019.

Thirty producer-led sustainability groups across the state have received a combined $750,000 in grants from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The grants are awarded to groups who make conservation efforts to improve soil health and water quality. This year's program included three new grant awardees and also introduced a conservation benefits tracking component, which will measure water quality benefits associated with each group's activities. This is the sixth round of awards since the state budget first provided for them in 2015.

"Our partnership with DATCP's producer-led program is one of our core assets," said Chris van Someren of Jon-De Farm and the Western Wisconsin Conservation Council, a producer-led group. "Beyond the capacity for funding, the program brings the added benefits of education, communication, and collaboration between farmers across the state. This kind of cooperation between government and farmers will be a critical part of Wisconsin’s conservation efforts moving forward."

Here are all the grant recipients:

  • Biological Farming Friends: $16,500 (new awardee)

  • Central Wisconsin Farmers’ Collaborative: $19,800 (new awardee)

  • Lake Wisconsin Farmer Watershed Council: $15,000 (new awardee)

  • Bear Creek/Chippewa Farmer Groundwater Group: $23,475

  • Buffalo-Trempealeau Farmer Network: $40,000

  • Buffalo County Conservation Farmers: $14,984

  • Calumet County Ag Stewardship Alliance: $6,250

  • Dodge County Farmers for Healthy Soil & Healthy Water: $39,093

  • Eau Pleine Partnership for Integrated Conservation: $30,000

  • Farmers for Lake Country: $15,000

  • Farmers of the Sugar River: $14,700

  • Farmers for Tomorrow: $30,000

  • Farmers of Barron County: $17,200

  • Farmers of Mill Creek: $31,749

  • Farmers for the Upper Sugar River: $31,749

  • Horse Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council: $28,950

  • Lafayette Ag Stewardship Alliance: $30,000

  • Ozaukee County Clean Farm Families: $30,000

  • Peninsula Pride Farms: $30,000

  • Producers of Lake Redstone: $30,000

  • Red Cedar Conservation Farmers: $30,000

  • Sauk Soil and Water Improvement Group: $30,000

  • Sheboygan River Progressive Farmers: $35,000

  • The Shell Lake - Yellow River Farmer-Led Watershed Council: $12,750

  • South Kinni Farmer-Led Watershed Council: $15,000

  • Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council: $30,000

  • Uplands Watershed Group: $13,000

  • Watershed Protection Committee of Racine County: $40,000

  • Western Wisconsin Conservation Council: $30,000

  • Yahara Pride Farms: $30,000