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Wisconsin Farm Bureau sets policy priorities, elects officers

Dairy supply and pricing, DNR permitting, and taxation were some of the top topics discussed by Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation delegates Monday. 

As little as three years ago, a recommendation for any form of dairy supply management had almost no support from Farm Bureau delegates, but now, Government Relations Director Karen Gefvert says members want to learn more about a Dairy Revitalization Plan from the University of Wisconsin based on recent research. “There has been a slow, progressive interest in exploring what options might be out there for a growth management plan and our delegates have been very passionate about trying to move the organization toward at least researching and finding out more information.”

She says delegates also voted to support developing a replacement for the Federal Milk Marketing Order system, which Gefvert calls archaic. “It doesn’t reflect the current marketplace of the products that are produced, and those products and the price in which they generate being part of the milk price that’s established and the milk price that gets paid to our farmers.”

Wisconsin delegates also support a voluntary carbon credit market that is instituted by U.S.-based companies, using certified private sector professionals to help farmers meet DNR permit requirements, having a final determination on all CAFO permits within 12 months of application or grant automatic approval, and members support state funding for planting cover crops.  Wisconsin delegates also reinforced American Farm Bureau Federation’s opposition to the Biden taxes and proposed elimination of stepped-up basis.

Delegates re-elected Kevin Krentz, Dave Daniels, and Robert Nigh to the Farm Bureau board, with Krentz and Daniels retaining their roles as President and Vice President.

From Wisconsin Farm Bureau:

Wisconsin delegates support:

  • continued education of producers on the Dairy Revitalization Plan as based on the research by the UW-Madison Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.
  • a voluntary carbon credit market that is instituted by U.S.-based companies and reflects the supply and demand of carbon credits
  • certified private sector professionals to be allowed to assist the DNR by utilizing their expertise to provide requirements that meet DNR permit requirements
  • all CAFO permits having a final determination within 12 months after original submittal or automatically approved by the department
  • state funding for planting of cover crops.
  • local government input over the control siting/placement of alternative energy projects
  • alternative energy businesses to fund bonding that would require the businesses to pay for cleanup and restoration of the land
  • the ability to manage nuisance elk within the wildlife damage and claim program without requiring public hunting access to private lands
  • all state indemnity payments be paid directly to producers, not to processors and not through processors.
  • having someone from county FSA committee sit on the land conservation committee with voting rights.
  • programs that emphasize innovations in product development, manufacturing and marketing strategies for all agricultural products.
  • the Public Service Commission holding companies accountable that receive public project funding for rural broadband
  • developing and implementing a more responsive price discovery tool to replace the Federal Milk Marketing Order to better reflect the value of milk
  • the same tax benefits for transitioning the farm to non-related family succession as to related family

Wisconsin delegates opposed:

  • use of cumulative impact studies regarding high capacity well approvals.
  • an increase in the inheritance tax and the loss of stepped-up basis

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