June is one of my favorite times of the year because its Dairy Month! Dairy Month is more than just an excuse to eat ice cream for breakfast, its a time to celebrate Wisconsin’s hardworking dairy farmers and the industry that defines Wisconsin. As I do every June, I have enjoyed volunteering at Dairy Breakfasts across the 17th Senate District and I hope you have been able to attend one as well.
The dairy industry is vital to Wisconsin’s economy. From dairy farms to cheese factories, you can’t think about Wisconsin without dairy. In fact, the dairy industry contributes $52.8 billion annually to Wisconsin’s economy. In addition to producing more than 32 billion pounds of milk each year, Wisconsin’s 5,000 dairy farms and 1.3 million cows help Wisconsin produce more than 3.6 billion pounds of cheese each year.
In the state legislature, I am proud to stand up for and support Wisconsin’s dairy farmers to help Wisconsin maintain and grow its reputation as the “Dairy State”. I authored legislation to create the Dairy Innovation Hub at UW-Platteville, UW-Madison, and UW-River Falls. Using our $7.8 million annual investment, researchers and students have conducted more than 260 research projects to move the dairy industry forward. If you are interested, you can learn more about the work of the Dairy Innovation Hub by visiting dairyinnovationhub.wisc.edu/.
In addition, I led legislation to create and fund the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program (ARIP). ARIP is designed to help repair and upgrade the roads and bridges that our farmers use every day. Initially funded with $150 million, the most recent state budget invested another $150 million to repair “first-mile” roads and bridges that allow our farmers to get goods to market.
I was also proud to support bipartisan legislation to invest more than $125 million in PFAS clean-up efforts across Wisconsin. I am glad that we were able to reach an agreement with the Governor to protect innocent landowners and farmers from litigation because of PFAS found on their land and farms. Innocent landowners are those who either live on contaminated land or unknowingly spread PFAS following guidance from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
To protect Wisconsin’s dairy industry, I also have worked on “Truth in Labeling” legislation to ensure only real milk and dairy products can be labeled as such and ensure schools serve real butter instead of margarine.
This Dairy Month, thank a dairy farmer, have some ice cream for breakfast, and do your part to ensure Wisconsin remains the “Dairy State”.
— Sen. Howard Marklein represents Wisconsin’s 17th Senate District.
