Advocating for agriculture

MADISON, Wis. — Over 400 agricultural enthusiasts convened on Wisconsin’s capitol city to learn more about legislative issues of impact, and to take their concerns and ideas to their legislators at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s Ag Day at the Capitol March 26.

“Ag is a priority, (legislators) need to hear what you do, how you do it and what’s important to you,” said Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Randy Romanski. “Wisconsin agriculture is an important part of our economy. It’s a $116.3 billion industry and employs nearly 10% of our citizenship — that demographic shows us all that ag is a part of our past, present and future.”

Romanski shared agricultural priorities put forth by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers for the next biennial budget. He said many are building on programs with a history of success.

“Many of the governor’s priorities are going to look really familiar,” Romanski said. “These are the same things the governor and legislature have worked together on in recent budgets, building on successful programs.”

Those efforts include direct support to farmers in the form of increased funding for the Wisconsin Farm Center, doubling money for its mental health voucher program and adding two positions that will be based in the northeastern and northwestern portions of the state.

“Farmers feed their neighbors, the state, the nation, the world — that’s a pretty big responsibility,” Romanski said. “In the best of times, it’s challenging. If you throw in financial stresses, market disruption and bad weather, you add even more stress. The services are free, confidential and in high demand. The redemption rate of vouchers was at an all-time high last year, twice as high as the year before.”

Romanski also requested funding for additional animal health positions.

“It’s not easy to ask for positions for state employees in the budget process,” Romanski said. “The governor included seven positions, so they can be a better resource for preparedness and response. It’s important to our industry.”

Investments for continued strategic market development in dairy and meat processing are included in the governor’s budget, Romanski said.

A new pilot program, Dairy Agriculture Resilience Investment Now Grant, will earmark $1.5 million for on-farm investments. The grant will be available to dairy farmers for modernization and innovation, Romanski said.

The governor has proposed doubling funding for the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports.

“The past four years are now the best four years for ag, forestry and food exports on record for Wisconsin,” Romanski said. “Wisconsin products are desired around the world. Last year alone, Wisconsin ag businesses exported products to 151 countries. Now is not the time to go backward — we need to keep looking for new markets.”

State Republican Sen. Howard Marklein, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance, said the final version of the budget will vary from the governor’s proposal.

“The governor proposed a budget that spends a little bit of money — the increase is more than 20% over the current budget,” Marklein said. “We will start with the current level of spending and build the budget from there.”

Marklein advised agriculturalists to get involved in creating agriculture policies, telling their own stories.

“There are fewer and fewer farmers,” Marklein said. “You need to be louder; you can’t let someone else tell your story. There are few legislators who have any kind of farm background. You need to advocate for yourself and your neighbors.”

Marklein encouraged those in attendance to take part in the four upcoming public budget hearings scheduled around the state throughout the month of April.

“People from the cities will be there, advocating for their policies and programs,” Marklein said. “Farmers, we need to be there as well, so that the committee hears what is important to us.”

Jason Mugnaini, WFBF executive director of government relations, highlighted a few agriculture budgetary items of importance.

“The Agricultural Roads Improvement Program is an absolute priority,” Mugnaini said. “We know that rural roads and bridges are deteriorating, and that is impacting farm transport.

Authored by Sen. Marklein and Republican Rep. Travis Tranel, ARIP was established in 2023, creating the nation’s first agricultural road improvement program specifically focused on rural roads that service agriculture.

Originally funded with $150 million, over $500 million in requests were received in the first year of ARIP, Mugnaini said. Ninety-two grants were awarded, with priority given to requests with the largest number of farms on the roads, volume of agricultural goods moved and the number of diverted trips or trips that were recurring at reduced rates.

“Those roads will move 15 million tons of agricultural goods — that is an economic value of $12 billion to our state’s economy,” Mugnaini said. “That type of return on investment is unheard of, and it shows how vital ARIP is to our state’s economic success. The governor included $50 million in his budget. We need $150 million for this program again. The need is absolutely inherent.”

Mugnaini said it is also important to continue to invest in developing and expanding export markets for Wisconsin agricultural products. Increasing dairy processing grants to $1 million and meat processing grants to $3 million annually he said will also help reach desired processing capabilities in the state.

Republican Rep. Nancy VanderMeer, speaking with a group of her constituents, reiterated the value of each farmer sharing their own story.

“Agriculture brings $116 billion to our state’s economy — there is a lot of horsepower in this industry,” VanderMeer said. “The number of individuals in our legislature with direct ties to agriculture is a lot smaller than I would hope for it to be. My colleagues from more metropolitan areas are used to thinking of economic development as building a factory or facility. We need to share that our economic development is out in those green fields and cranberry marshes, it’s the animals in the barn. That’s the story we have to convey.”