News

Grants available for new and existing Wisconsin farmer-led conservation groups

The state of Wisconsin is investing more than $1 million in farmer-led conservation solutions to protect local watersheds.

Producer-Led Watershed Program Manager Dani Heisler tells Brownfield, “With the backbone of the program being the water quality improvements, we feel that it’s very important to let the farmers identify and make those decisions on what’s critical to them in their local geographies.”

Last year, conservation practices implemented by groups impacted 1.6 million acres.

“Once they have the practices on the landscape, then they’re able to share about it,” she explains. “They’re educating each other, they’re learning from it, they’re sharing it out more widely, and groups are partnering together to make some of these educational efforts happen.”

She says more than 50 groups have formed over the past 12 years and are partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, conservation departments, or nonprofit conservation organizations.

Requests for funding since the program’s inception total more than $11.5 million.