MONROE — The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has awarded $1 million in producer-led watershed protection grants (PLWPG) to 47 farmer-led groups for 2023. 

Grants support producer-led conservation solutions by encouraging innovation and farmer participation in on-the-ground efforts to improve Wisconsin’s soil health and water quality. Including the recent round of funding, DATCP has awarded more than $6.2 million to 49 different groups across the state since the program started in 2015. 

“Across the state, producer-led groups are doing tremendous work caring and advocating for our state’s land and water resources, and those efforts continue to grow year after year,” said Gov. Evers. “This program supports farmers who aim to engage with their communities in a variety of conservation initiatives.”

This is the ninth round of grant awards since funding was first made available in the 2015-17 biennial budget. Annual interest in DATCP’s PLWPG program continues to exceed the program budget. This funding cycle received the highest amount of requests in the history of the program, with 47 groups applying for a total funding request of almost $1.6 million. This year’s grant cycle funding will support four new groups while helping veteran groups continue to advance their work.

Grant projects have focused on providing conservation education to farmers, conducting on-farm demonstrations and research, issuing incentive payments for implementing conservation practices, organizing field days, and gathering data on soil health and water quality.

Green County is fortunate enough to have more than one of these DATCP funded producer-led watershed groups- Farmers of the Sugar River and Green County Clean Waters. Farmers of the Sugar River covers the Lower Sugar River and the Middle Sugar River watersheds or generally the eastern two-thirds of the county. Green County Clean Waters contains the Honey Creek, Richland Creek, and Jordan/ Skinner Creek watersheds in southwest Green County. 

Farmers of the Sugar River have been awarded annual grants since its inception in 2018. For 2024, the group received a grant for $26,142. The main activities will be incentivizing planting cover crops and no till planting other crops, providing educational meetings and money to pay an intern for summer help in programming and outreach. The group has a website that is meant to be a resource for all farmers to catch up on past events and learn about upcoming events: https://greencountylwcd.com/farmers-of-the-sugar-river/.

Green County Clean Waters has received a grant from DATCP for a second year now and allocate a large portion of funding directly back to watershed farmers. The money is mostly an incentive to plant cover crops and terminate them in a way other than tilling. Some money is also earmarked to pay for food at field days or meetings and for soil test and promotional materials. Currently, there are over 30 members but numbers are continuing to grow each season. 

Those interested in becoming involved can send an email to greencountyfarming@gmail.com or check the Green County Clean Waters Facebook page for information about upcoming events.