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AB845: Bill Text
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2025 - 2026 LEGISLATURE
LRB-4525/1
MJW:ajk
2025 ASSEMBLY BILL 845
January 16, 2026 - Introduced by Representatives
Miresse
,
Anderson
,
Arney
,
Bare
,
DeSmidt
,
Hong
,
Joers
,
Madison
,
McCarville
,
Moore Omokunde
,
Neubauer
,
Palmeri
,
Roe
,
Stroud
,
Subeck
,
Taylor
,
Tenorio
,
Udell
and
Vining
, cosponsored by Senators
Roys
,
Dassler-Alfheim
,
L. Johnson
,
Larson
,
Pfaff
,
Ratcliff
,
Smith
and
Spreitzer
. Referred to Committee on Agriculture.
AB845,1,3
1
An Act
to create
20.115 (7) (cm) and 93.60 of the statutes;
relating to:
2
creating a grant program for farmers who implement certain sustainable
3
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 land participating in a land retirement program or on commercial forest land or for an aquaculture-based project. 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 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 for 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:
AB845,1
1
Section
1
.
20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place,
2
insert the following amounts for the purposes indicated:
-
See PDF for table
AB845,2
6
Section
2
.
20.115 (7) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:
AB845,3,9
7
20.115
(7)
(cm)
Sustainable agriculture grants.
As a continuing
8
appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for sustainable agriculture grants
9
under s. 93.60.
AB845,3
10
Section
3
.
93.60 of the statutes is created to read:
AB845,3,15
11
93.60
Sustainable agriculture grant program.
(1)
Except as provided in
12
sub. (2), for the purposes of reducing fossil fuels used in farming and increasing the
13
amount of carbon stored on farmland, the department may award grants from the
14
appropriation under s. 20.115 (7) (cm) to agricultural producers to do any of the
15
following:
AB845,3,20
16
(a) Implement on-site fossil fuel input efficiency measures, including any
17
activity or technology that reduces the amount of fuel, electricity, water, fossil fuel-
18
based fertilizer, or fossil fuel-based pesticide that is used per unit of agricultural
19
output, and including by adopting alternative fuel technologies such as wind or
20
solar power.
AB845,3,22
21
(b) Implement above-ground carbon sequestration practices such as planting
22
hedgerows, windrows, riparian buffers, or woody plantings, including fruit trees.
AB845,4,3
23
(c) Implement an activity or technology that maintains or enhances the
1
quantity of organic carbon in the soil, including by cover cropping, using no-till or
2
low-till practices, applying manure, applying biochar, or using managed grazing
3
practices.
AB845,4,5
4
(d) Develop a conservation management plan that outlines the producer’s
5
plan for carbon reduction or sequestration.
AB845,4,13
6
(2)
The department may not award a grant under this section for a project
7
that occurs on land participating in a land retirement program or on commercial
8
forest land or for an aquaculture-based project. In addition, the department may
9
not award a grant under this section to a person who is eligible for the state-federal
10
conservation reserve enhancement program under s. 93.70, unless the person has
11
first applied for enrollment in that program, or to a person who is eligible for any
12
other state, federal, or local grant for the same conservation actions, unless the
13
person has first applied for that grant.
AB845,4,22
14
(3)
In prioritizing grant recipients, the department shall seek to maximize
15
the total reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide equivalents per dollar awarded by
16
leveraging other nonstate public or private funding. The department shall also
17
prioritize practices, activities, and technologies that both improve air or water
18
quality in this state and provide agronomic benefits. The department shall also
19
seek to ensure that grants are provided to agricultural producers that are located in
20
different regions of the state and that represent different types of agricultural
21
enterprises and shall seek to ensure that small- and medium-sized agricultural
22
enterprises are included in the grant program.
AB845,5,6
23
(4)
For purposes of this section and rules promulgated under this section,
1
storing one ton of carbon dioxide equivalents in soil or standing trees for 100 years
2
shall be considered equal to avoiding one ton of carbon dioxide equivalents
3
emissions. Carbon dioxide equivalents stored for less than 100 years must be
4
annualized linearly, with one-ton year carbon dioxide equivalents storage having
5
one-hundredth the relative value as the emission of one ton of carbon dioxide
6
equivalents.
AB845,5,15
7
(5)
The department may use up to 20 percent of the amount appropriated
8
under s. 20.115 (7) (cm) to create educational campaigns that raise awareness of the
9
grant program under this section; to provide technical assistance to grant
10
applicants in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin-Extension, the natural
11
resources conservation service of the federal department of agriculture, the
12
department of natural resources, and county land and water conservation
13
departments; to cover the cost of administering the program under this section; and
14
to develop programs and models to assist with the grant prioritization process
15
under this section.
AB845,5,18
16
(6)
A person who receives a grant under this section may use the grant to
17
make down payments on equipment or for other types of loans related to the
18
purpose of the grant.
AB845,6,2
19
(7)
Grants awarded under sub. (1) (c) for activities or technologies that have
20
an uncertain storage life may include ongoing annual payments for the previous
21
year’s storage or upfront cumulative payments based on the expected storage in
22
future years. Grants that include upfront payments for future benefits must be
1
conditioned to include penalties for default due to negligence on the part of the
2
grant recipient.
AB845,6,9
3
(8)
The department may require a grant recipient to allow access to the
4
property on which the grant project is located, with reasonable notice, to monitor
5
the impacts of the project. All grant recipients shall allow information about their
6
projects to be made available to the public. The department shall maintain a public
7
list of all grant recipients, as well as other pertinent information, including total
8
state dollars spent or borrowed and the impact on total atmospheric carbon dioxide
9
equivalents emissions.
AB845,6,14
10
(9)
The department, in consultation with the University of Wisconsin-
11
Extension, the natural resources conservation service of the federal department of
12
agriculture, the department of natural resources, and county land and water
13
conservation departments, shall promulgate rules to administer the program under
14
this section.
AB845,7,4
15
(10)
No later than January 1 of the year following the year in which a grant is
16
first awarded under this section, and no later than January 1 of each subsequent
17
odd-numbered year, the department shall submit a report on the program under
18
this section to the chief clerk of each house of the legislature for distribution to the
19
appropriate standing committees under s. 13.172 (3). The report shall document
20
the nonstate matching funds that were used by grant recipients; the total state
21
dollars awarded under the program; the total state dollars spent on providing
22
technical assistance, educational campaigns, and administration; the quantity of
23
carbon dioxide equivalents emissions avoided; the quantity of carbon stored for
1
projects under sub. (1) (c); and the total impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide
2
equivalents emissions of all activities funded under the program to date and
3
expected over the life of each project by the categories described under sub. (1) (a) to
4
(c).
AB845,7,6
5
(11)
An offer of a grant under this section shall be considered a bona fide offer
6
of cost-sharing.
AB845,7,7
7
(end)
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