There’s nothing better at connecting people than long, gooey cheese, either breaded and fried to perfection, or topped on slices of bread and grilled. On one side, you have the labor and love that went into raising animals or grains to make the product. On the other side, the people who enjoy the fruits, or in this case the cheese, of that labor. 

For a day, those two worlds collided at Ag Day at the Capitol, hosted by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation.  

“This was a good event,” said Danny Brisky, a graduate of the American Soybean Association Corteva Agriscience Young Program who farms near Columbus. “I had never attended. I enjoyed seeing the farming community uniting under a common cause.” 

That cause is agriculture, where the coalition of farmers took to Capitol Hill to work through a slew of budget and legislative priorities, including: 

• Road improvements 

• Biofuels incentive package 

• Dairy and meat processing grants  

• Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports 

• Rural and Agricultural Tax relief 

• Regulatory reform and compliance assistance 

• Wildlife damage 

 “The Wisconsin Soybean Program helps sponsor this important program,” said Brad Sennhenn, who recently completed the ASA Young Leader Program and farms near Columbus. “To see a sprayer perched just under the Capitol is something else. I think it’s good for farmers to tell legislators and non-farmers just how important our industry is to the state.” 

According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, agriculture contributes $116.3 billion annually to the state and supports nearly 59,000 jobs. Additionally, Wisconsin farmers produce about $1.3 billion of soybeans each year; most of the state’s soybean crop is exported to markets in China, Canada and Mexico.  

“We may be a small percentage of the population, but when we stand together, we can punch well above our weight class,” Brisky said. 

The Ag Day at the Capitol event comes on the heels of hill visits by WSA directors and staff with the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association and the Wisconsin Biofuels Association in Madison to advocate for biofuels. Additionally, WSA directors joined ASA directors in Washington, D.C. to advocate for a new slew of issues, including trade, a farm bill, biofuels, and simply defending sound science. 

“Our mission is to be more active legislatively and to position Wisconsin soybean farmers to be successful,” said Adam Kask, WSA executive director. “One of the ways we do that is by partnering with our ag counterparts and learning how to be better advocates.”