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Wisconsin expands AEA acreage

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection will create four new Agricultural Enterprise Areas or AEAs and expand an existing one on January 1st, 2015.  The new areas cover more than 191,000 acres in Clark, Columbia, Marathon, Monroe and Outagamie Counties.  It will bring the total amount of land under AEAs in the state to 940,000 acres in 22 counties.

The new areas are:

  • Friends in Agriculture AEA, Clark County: 17,158 acres the towns of Fremont and Lynn.  36 petitioners hope to create the state’s largest contiguous block of working lands by linking with other AEAs.
  • Greenville Greenbelt AEA, Outagamie County: 1,444 acres in the town of Greenville.  Nine petitioners seek to preserve existing farmland for agriculture by supporting policies to increase development densities in the urban portion of their town.
  • The Headwaters of Southeast Monroe County AEA, Monroe County: 86,380 acres in the towns of Clifton, Glendale, Willington and Wilton.  99 petitioners aim to foster a conservation movement to protect resources, build support for policies that protect productive ag land, and minimize land use conflicts.
  • West Point AEA, Columbia County: 17,158 acres in the Town of West Point.  21 petitioners seek to protect soil and water quality and wildlife, slowing fragmentation of ag lands, preserving multi-generation farms, encouraging ag diversity, modernizing farm operations to remain competitive, and provide farm-related education.
  • Heart of America’s Dairyland AEA, Clark and Marathon counties: expands an existing AEA by about 70,000 acres, bringing the covered area to about 234,500 acres. With 125 new petitioners, newly added towns are Weston and York in Clark County and Bern, McMillan and Eau Pleine in Marathon County.  The largest AEA in Wisconsin seeks to preserve the region’s agricultural heritage.

 

AEAs are part of Wisconsin’s farmland preservation program, designed to encourage preservation of agricultural land use and to promote agricultural economic development. Local landowners, in partnership with local governments, must seek the designation.

Farmers owning land within an AEA can receive tax credits in exchange for signing an agreement to keep their land in agricultural use for at least 15 years.  Landowners in AEAs are not subject to any new land use regulations.  In turn, the designation provides some certainty for farmers and agribusinesses that their area will remain in agriculture, so they can be confident about investing in their businesses.

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