
WSA has eye on Madison as 2025 legislative session begins
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The 2025 legislative session has begun in Madison, and the Wisconsin Soybean Association (WSA) will have a presence throughout the session to protect soy farmers and a state-level farm economy that accounts for 14.3% of Wisconsin’s total economic impact.
“I’m optimistic about the upcoming session,” said Sara Stelter, president of WSA. “As an industry, we’re on the same page when it comes to the policies we’re supporting.”
When the dust cleared after the 2024 election, Democrats chipped away at the Republicans’ large margins in both the state house and state assembly. Following a new outline of district maps, Democrats cut the GOP’s advantage in the State Assembly down to 54-45 and flipped four Senate seats to cut their deficit to 18-15, which removed the Republicans supermajority. The Democrats are now optimistic about their chances to flip the Senate in 2026 when the even-numbered seats are up for election.
As 2025 begins, Wisconsin will once again have a divided government, meaning all bills signed by Gov. Tony Evers must have bipartisan support. For WSA, that’s not a negative proposition.
“We’re fortunate to live in a state where both parties understand how important agriculture is to our economy,” WSA Executive Director Adam Kask said. “Agriculture is one of those rare issues that still has bipartisan cooperation, and we look forward to working with both sides of the aisle during the upcoming session.”
Lawmakers are debating budgetary priorities during the 2025-26 biennial session, including how to invest a $4.5 billion surplus. Gov. Evers will present his budget outline to a Joint Session of the Legislature on Feb. 8.
WSA Vice President Doug Rebout said he and his fellow directors are excited to build relationships with the new class of legislators in Madison.
“There are so many new legislators that we’re going to have to work really hard to go and educate a lot of them because a lot of them probably don’t have a whole lot of agriculture background,” Rebout said. “Hopefully we’ll educate them on what we’re doing and why we’re doing it, then we can get some favorable votes on both sides.”
WSA is a member of the Wisconsin Ag Coalition, a group comprising commodity groups across the state. While priorities often change during a session, WSA anticipates advocating for a host of issues across several areas in 2025 at the state Capitol.
- Funding for rural roads and bridges
- Growing international markets
- Supply chain improvement
- Producer-led conservation efforts
- Renewable fuel production tax incentives
- Promoting biobased products (i.e., SoyFoam)
- Protecting crop inputs
- Workforce development
- Rural child care/health care
WSA will be active throughout the session, which started Jan. 6 and runs through spring 2026, when legislators typically adjourn to begin campaign season. Farmer leaders will participate in the Biofuels Lobby Day Feb. 26 in Madison.
Continuing the conversation
Growers will convene to further discuss policies in Wisconsin Dells Feb. 6-7 during the annual Wisconsin Corn·Soy Expo, which will include panels from state and federal legislative experts. At the local, state and federal levels, there will be no shortage of issues to address at this year’s Expo.
“There are a lot of unknowns at this point,” Rebout said, “but we’re staying hopeful and looking forward to visiting with our agriculture community at Corn·Soy Expo.”
WSA will hold its annual meeting Feb. 6 at 10:30 a.m. during Corn·Soy Expo in the Tamarind/Guava room. As part of the agenda, the board will highlight its 2024 policy wins and challenges, approve policy resolutions, discuss the progress of WSA’s political election committee and elect its officer team. At-Large Director Danny Brisky, Vice President Doug Rebout and Treasurer Matt Rehberg’s seats are each up for election.
All active WSA members are encouraged to attend the annual meeting and learn more about WSA’s policy activities. To join WSA, click here.