Wisconsin Ag Connection - State Grant Program Leads to Effective Conservation Results

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State Grant Program Leads to Effective Conservation Results
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 06/18/2021

Participants of the Wisconsin Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program have been using their funding effectively, according to data collected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. The agency says conservation practices among producer-led groups in the program grew by 82 percent during the past two years.

Program Manager Rachel Rushmann said the program is an effective way to increase the use of conservation practices across farmland. She notes that such practices implemented through the work of state-funded groups grew from 439,237 acres in 2019 to 798,221 acres in 2020.

"This tracking allows us to quantify the water quality benefits associated with the practices implemented by producer-led groups, and it helps us share their work and impact with their local communities as well as other groups across the state," Rushmann said.

Conservation practices include low disturbance manure application, split nitrogen applications, no-till and cover crops. These practices help reduce soil erosion and phosphorus loss from farm fields, ensuring that more nutrients go into farmers' crops, rather than into local soil and water sources.

Meanwhile, DATCP's analysis further shows that 211 farmers in the program planted a total of 62,587 acres using no-till technology--a 19 percent increase from 2019. This resulted in an estimated reduction of 84,860 tons of soil erosion and prevented the loss of an estimated 54,072 pounds of phosphorus. Cover crop implementation followed a similar trend, with 83,843 acres planted across 423 farms. These improvements are expected to reduce soil erosion by an estimated 75,364 tons and prevent an estimated 41,492 pounds of phosphorus from leaving farm fields.

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