WFU Weighs in on WI Farmlink Bill
- WFU Blog
- 1 day ago
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On October 21, Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) Government Relations Director, Michelle Ramirez-White submitted testimony to the Assmebly Committee on Agriculture regarding Assembly Bill 411. AB 411 is a bill that seeks to establish a Wisconsin farmland link program.
See WFU's full testimony below:
Re: AB 411 Relating to creation of a farmland link program
Registration position: Other
Chair Tranel and members of the Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on behalf of the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU) on Assembly Bill 411.
Wisconsin Farmers Union, founded in 1930 in Elk Mound WI, is the second largest general agricultural organization in the state. WFU supports small and medium size family farmers and rural communities. The membership represents a wide array of farm types: conventional, organic, dairy, grain, livestock, and specialty crop producers, and represents many new and beginning farmers across Wisconsin.
Land access is one of the most critical agricultural and rural issues. The average age of a US farmer is 58.1 years old (1), and between 2017 and 2022 the number of farms in the US has declined by 141,733, and numbers of operating acres lost declined by 20.1 million, equivalent to the size of Maine (2). In the same timeframe (2017-2022) Wisconsin alone lost a projected 128,679 acres of agricultural land, and 6,272 farm operations (2).
It is a falsehood to say, ‘young people do not want to farm anymore.’ What is preventing the next generation from entering into production is affordability and availability of farmland. Beginning farmers are competing for the same acres as established operations looking to expand, industrial projects, renewable energy projects, developers, and investors seeking to diversify their portfolio. The demand for farmland is high, and this is pushing prices in every district in Wisconsin upwards.
AB 411 re-establishes a state-supported online hub to connect landowners and retiring farmers with new or beginning producers seeking farmland, housed within the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection’s (DATCP). WFU appreciates the bill’s authors willingness to begin to address generational transition planning and farmland access in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Farmers Union supports the creation of a farmland link program, but believes it must be done effectively. WFU encourages the committee to review successful farmlink programs in other states, and asks bill authors to work closely with DATCP to develop details and allocate additional funding to this bill before it moves forward in the legislative process.
Additionally, while there is no state-led Farmlink program in Wisconsin, there is the Farmland Access Hub (3), which provides matchmaking services and technical support to farmers across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. The Hub is administered by Renewing the Countryside and works in collaboration with Wisconsin Farmers Union, American Farmland Trust, Foxhead Regenerative Agriculture Project, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, University of Wisconsin-Extension, and Compeer Financial. The program created under AB 411 may be an effective extension of the existing work under the Farmland Access Hub, and the potential for partnership should also be considered.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on this proposed legislation.
(1) 2022 Census of Agriculture
(2 )American Farm Bureau Federation; Over 140,000 Farms Lost in 5 Years, Daniel Munch.
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