By Jordan Lamb, The Welch Group

The Wisconsin State Legislature is currently IN SESSION. Governor Evers delivered his “State of the State” address on January 22, 2025. The Governor will deliver his budget address to a special joint session of the legislature on February 18, 2025.

LEGISLATURE

Governor Evers Delivers the State of the State Address. On the evening of January 22, Governor Tony Evers delivered his annual “State of the State” address to a joint session of the Wisconsin State Legislature. The address did not specifically mention agriculture other than as the workforce may be impacted by federal immigration proposals. Rather, the speech declared 2025 “The Year of the Kid” and focused on previewing budget proposals that will address childcare funding, prescription drug prices, school meals, crime reduction and gun violence prevention, and children’s mental health. Link to 2025 State of the State Address: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WIGOV/bulletins/3ce346c

Ballot Initiative Proposal – Governor Proposes Binding Referenda, Constitutional Amendments. On Jan 6, 2025,Governor Evers announced he intends to include a proposal allowing citizens to put binding referenda on the ballot in Wisconsin as a part of the biennial budget proposal. This would allow Wisconsin citizens to enact statutory and constitutional changes through a majority vote without the Legislature’s approval. On January 8, 2025, Speaker Robin Vos spoke with reporters and dismissed the Governor’s proposal for ballot measures. “D-O-A. Dead on arrival,” Vos said. “It’s never going to happen.” Wisconsin agricultural groups are watching this issue carefully as ballot initiatives in other states have been used to adopt animal welfare regulations and changes to the practice of veterinary medicine. (See Wisconsin Public Radio articles: https://www.wpr.org/news/evers-referendum-budget-citizens-vote-changing-law-wisconsin-constitution and https://www.wpr.org/news/evers-referendum-budget-citizens-vote-changing-law-wisconsin-constitution.)

Legislation to Ban Foreign Land Ownership (2025 SB 7). Sen. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere) and Reps. William Penterman (R-Hustisford) and Elijah Behnke (R-Town of Chase), have released legislation that would prohibit foreign adversaries from acquiring agricultural or forestry land in Wisconsin. They point to bipartisan concerns around the issue of foreign ownership of U.S. farmland as the rationale for their legislation, noting it has “nearly doubled” over the past decade. In Wisconsin, foreign agricultural interests now own more than 500,000 acres of land in the state, according to their co-sponsorship memo, which notes that figure has been increasing by tens of thousands of acres every year. Under current state law, foreign companies or individuals are barred from owning more than 640 acres of agricultural or forestry land. The lawmakers say they’re particularly concerned around land acquisitions by foreign interests “that have repeatedly demonstrated hostility toward our country,” threatened supply chain disruption and military espionage, violated human rights, breached intellectual property and more. Their bill would hinge on determinations made by the federal secretary of Commerce about which entities are deemed foreign adversaries. The lawmakers point to a similar state law enacted in Virginia in 2023.

Republican lawmakers draft a bill requiring developers to get approval from each city, village and town in which a solar or wind project would be built before they could seek approval from the PSC (2025 SB 3). Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Rep. Travis Tranel (R-Cuba City) state their legislation “reaffirms local control by empowering local municipalities and their elected officials by providing them a seat at the table when it comes to the approval of large-scale solar and wind projects.” Under current law, building a large electric generating facility requires the state Public Service Commission to grant a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the proposed project, the memo shows. The bill would amend the approval process for solar and wind farms to include getting approval from the local municipality where it would be located. Municipalities would have to adopt a resolution to approve or disapprove the project “no later than 90 days” after getting a request for approval, though the bill allows for that deadline to be extended. Marklein and Tranel say residents of rural areas and their local elected officials “have felt ignored” when raising concerns about large utility projects being built in their area. They note large-scale utility projects “have an enormous impact” on rural communities, ranging from environmental and groundwater effects to infrastructure and roads.

ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES

DATCP Now Accepting Applications for 2025 Farmland Preservation Agreements. Landowners can apply for a farmland preservation agreement for land owned and located within an Agricultural Enterprise Area (AEA). A farmland preservation agreement requires the land to be kept in agricultural use for a minimum of 10 years and to meet state soil and water conservation standards. In return, the agreement enables the landowner to claim a farmland preservation tax credit. Visit the farmland preservation agreement webpage.

DATCP’s Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grants Continue to Increase Conservation Practices on Wisconsin Farms. DATCP has released the 2022-2023 impact report for the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program, which shows that conservation practices among producer-led groups in the program rose by 43% from 2022 to 2023. These practices help reduce soil erosion and phosphorus loss from farm fields, ensuring that nutrients go into farmers’ crops instead of local water sources. Read the news release.

WI AG NEWS CLIPS

Ag Day at the Capitol – Madison, WI – March 26, 2025. “Ag Day at the Capitol” will be held on March 26 at the Monona Terrace in Madison beginning at 11:30 a.m. The event includes opportunities to learn about key issues affecting agriculture, network with farmers and ag organizations from across the state and meet with state legislators and staff. This year’s keynote speaker is Sauk County Native, Brian Reisinger, author of Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family’s Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer. Registrants will have a chance to win one of 200 free copies of his book. The event will also feature the Agriculture Showcase, located on the 100 block of MLK Blvd and inside the Capitol Rotunda from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. This open-to-the-public, educational feature will include farm equipment displays, dairy calves, cheese samples, and interactive experiences, including a hydraulic agricultural sprayer simulator inside the Capitol Rotunda. https://wfbf.com/events/ag-day-at-the-capitol/

Coalition of groups call for nearly $1B investment for safe drinking water

https://www.wpr.org/news/coalition-of-groups-call-for-nearly-1b-investment-for-safe-drinking-water

How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic

https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/bird-flu-spread-cattle-poultry-pandemic-cdc/

Wolf depredations of livestock increased in 2024 in Wisconsin for the third consecutive year.https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2025/01/07/wolf-depredations-of-livestock-increased-in-2024-in-wisconsin/77428928007/

USFWS Denies Wolf Delisting Petitions. The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, Wisconsin Bear Hunters’ Association, Michigan Bear Hunters Association and Upper Peninsula Bear Houndsmen Association filed the petitions with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which were denied on January 7, 2025. https://www.wpr.org/news/wildlife-regulators-deny-petitions-reduce-remove-protections-wolves

FTC sues Deere & Co. for monopolizing farm-equipment repair market. https://apnews.com/article/deere-farm-repair-tractors-monopoly-85c18d35a1e0999decb535aa5d7c358e

Bracing for a trade war: WI soybean farmer looks ahead to new Trump term. https://www.wpr.org/news/bracing-for-a-trade-war-wisconsin-soybean-farmer-looks-ahead-to-new-trump-term