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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY BILL 841
December 22, 2023 - Introduced by Representatives SHANKLAND, C. ANDERSON,
JACOBSON, J. ANDERSON, ANDRACA, BALDEH, BARE, CLANCY, CONLEY, CONSIDINE,
EMERSON, JOERS, MADISON, NEUBAUER, OHNSTAD, MOORE OMOKUNDE, PALMERI,
RATCLIFF, SHELTON, STUBBS and SUBECK, cosponsored by Senators ROYS, SMITH,
AGARD, TAYLOR, LARSON and SPREITZER. Referred to Committee on Agriculture.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
AN ACT to create 20.115 (7) (cm) and 93.60 of the statutes; relating to: creating
a grant program for farmers who use certain sustainable practices, granting
rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
This bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection to create a sustainable agriculture grant program, under which DATCP
may award grants to farmers to 1) implement on-site fossil fuel input efficiency
measures; 2) plant vegetation such as hedgerows, windrows, or riparian buffers; 3)
implement approaches to increase the carbon stored in the soil; or 4) develop a
conservation management plan for carbon reduction or sequestration.
Under the bill, a grant may not be awarded for a project that occurs on lands
participating in a land retirement program or on commercial forest lands or for
aquaculture-based projects. In addition, a grant may not be awarded to a farmer
who is eligible for the combined state-federal conservation reserve enhancement
program, unless the farmer has already applied for that program, or to a farmer who
is eligible for any other state, federal, or local grant for the same conservation
actions, unless the farmer has already applied for that grant.
The bill requires DATCP, in prioritizing grant recipients, to seek to maximize
the total reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalents per grant dollar
awarded by leveraging other nonstate public or private funding. In addition, DATCP
must prioritize projects that both improve air or water quality and provide
agronomic benefits. DATCP must also attempt to provide grants to farmers in
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ASSEMBLY BILL 841
different parts of the state and for different types of projects and must ensure that
small- and medium-sized farms are included in the grant program. Under the bill,
DATCP may use up to 20 percent of the amount appropriated for the grant program
to create educational programs about the grants, to provide technical assistance, to
develop models to assist in prioritizing grant awards, and to administer the grant
program.
The bill allows a grant recipient to use grant funds to make down payments on
equipment or other types of loans related to the purpose of the grant. The bill also
allows grants awarded for carbon storage projects that have an uncertain storage life
to include ongoing annual payments for the previous year's storage or upfront
cumulative payments based on the expected storage in future years.
The bill also allows DATCP to require a grant recipient to allow access to the
property on which the grant project will take place and requires DATCP to maintain
a public list of all grant recipients, the amount of money spent or borrowed under the
program, and the impact on total atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalents emissions
under the program.
In addition, the bill provides that an offer of a grant under the new grant
program qualifies as a bona fide offer of cost-sharing. Under the current soil and
water resource management program, unless a farmer receives a bona fide offer of
cost-sharing from DATCP or the Department of Natural Resources, the farmer is not
required to follow the conservation practices set by DATCP and DNR if doing so
would require the farmer to discontinue or modify cropping practices on existing
cropland or to discontinue or modify an existing livestock facility or operation.
Finally, the bill requires DATCP to report to the legislature biennially on the
implementation and impact of the grant program.
For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SECTION 1. 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert
the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
2023-24 2024-25
20.115 Agriculture, trade and consumer
protection, department of
(7) AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(cm)Sustainable agriculture grantsGPR C 2,500,000 -0-
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SECTION 2
ASSEMBLY BILL 841
SECTION 2. 20.115 (7) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:
20.115 (7) (cm) Sustainable agriculture grants. As a continuing appropriation,
the amounts in the schedule for sustainable agriculture grants under s. 93.60.
SECTION 3. 93.60 of the statutes is created to read:
93.60 Sustainable agriculture grant program. (1) Except as provided in
sub. (2), for the purposes of reducing fossil fuels used in farming and increasing the
amount of carbon stored on farmland, the department may award grants from the
appropriation under s. 20.115 (7) (cm) to agricultural producers to do any of the
following:
(a) Implement on-site fossil fuel input efficiency measures, including any
activity or technology that reduces the amount of fuel, electricity, water, fossil
fuel-based fertilizer, or fossil fuel-based pesticide that is used per unit of
agricultural output, and including by adopting alternative fuel technologies such as
wind or solar power.
(b) Implement above-ground carbon sequestration practices such as planting
hedgerows, windrows, riparian buffers, or woody plantings, including fruit trees.
(c) Implement an activity or technology that maintains or enhances the
quantity of organic carbon in the soil, including by cover cropping, using no-till or
low-till practices, applying manure, applying biochar, or using managed grazing
practices.
(d) Develop a conservation management plan that outlines the producer's plan
for carbon reduction or sequestration.
(2) The department may not award a grant under this section for a project that
occurs on lands participating in a land retirement program or on commercial forest
land or for aquaculture-based projects. In addition, the department may not award
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SECTION 3 ASSEMBLY BILL 841
a grant under this section to a person who is eligible for the state-federal
conservation reserve enhancement program under s. 93.70, unless the person has
first applied for enrollment in that program, or to a person who is eligible for any
other state, federal, or local grant for the same conservation actions, unless the
person has first applied for that grant.
(3) In prioritizing grant recipients, the department shall seek to maximize the
total reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalents per dollar awarded by
leveraging other nonstate public or private funding. The department shall also
prioritize practices, activities, and technologies that both improve air or water
quality in this state and provide agronomic benefits. The department shall also seek
to ensure that grants are provided to agricultural producers that are located in
different regions of the state and that represent different types of agricultural
enterprises and shall seek to ensure that small- and medium-sized agricultural
enterprises are included in the grant program.
(4) For purposes of this section and rules promulgated under this section,
storing one ton of carbon dioxide equivalents in soil or standing trees for 100 years
shall be considered equal to avoiding one ton of carbon dioxide equivalents
emissions. Carbon dioxide equivalents stored for less than 100 years must be
annualized linearly with one-ton year carbon dioxide equivalents storage having
one-hundredth the relative value as the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide
equivalents.
(5) The department may use up to 20 percent of the amount appropriated under
s. 20.115 (7) (cm) to create educational campaigns that raise awareness of the grant
program under this section; to provide technical assistance to grant applicants in
cooperation with the UW Extension, the natural resources conservation service of
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the federal department of agriculture, the department of natural resources, and
county land and water conservation departments; to cover the cost of administering
the program under this section; and to develop programs and models to assist with
the grant prioritization process under this section.
(6) A person who receives a grant under this section may use the grant to make
down payments on equipment or other types of loans related to the purpose of the
grant.
(7) Grants awarded under sub. (1) (c) for activities or technologies that have
an uncertain storage life may include ongoing annual payments for the previous
year's storage or upfront cumulative payments based on the expected storage in
future years. Grants that include upfront payments for future benefits must be
conditioned to include penalties for default due to negligence on the part of the grant
recipient.
(8) The department may require a grant recipient to allow access to the
property on which the grant project is located, with reasonable notice, to monitor the
impacts of the project. All grant recipients shall allow information about their
projects to be made available to the public. The department shall maintain a public
list of all grant recipients, as well as other pertinent information including total state
dollars spent or borrowed and the impact on total atmospheric carbon dioxide
equivalents emissions.
(9) The department, in consultation with the UW Extension, the natural
resources conservation service of the federal department of agriculture, the
department of natural resources, and county land and water conservation
departments, shall promulgate rules to administer the program under this section.
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(10) No later than January 1 of the year following the year in which a grant
is first awarded under this section, and no later than January 1 of each subsequent
odd-numbered year, the department shall submit a report on the program under this
section to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the
appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3). The report shall document the
nonstate matching funds that were used by grant recipients; the total state dollars
awarded under the program; the total state dollars spent on providing technical
assistance, educational campaigns, and administration; the quantity of carbon
dioxide equivalents emissions avoided; the quantity of carbon stored for projects
under sub. (1) (c); and the total impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalents
emissions of all activities funded under the program to date and expected over the
life of each project by the categories described under sub. (1) (a) to (c).
(11) An offer of a grant under this section shall be considered a bona fide offer
of cost-sharing.
SECTION 4.0Effective date.
(1) This act takes effect on the day after publication, or on the 2nd day after
publication of the 2023 biennial budget act, whichever is later.
(END)
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