Data collected by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) shows that conservation practices among producer-led groups in the program grew by 82% from 2019 to 2020.
Conservation practices include low disturbance manure application, split nitrogen applications, no-till, and cover crops.
These practices help reduce soil erosion and phosphorus loss from farm fields, ensuring that more nutrients go into farmers’ crops, rather than into local soil and water sources.
The data suggests that DATCP’s Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program is an effective way to increase the use of conservation practices across farmland.
Recent program numbers show that conservation practices implemented through the work of state-funded groups grew from 439,237 acres in 2019 to 798,221 acres in 2020.
The information is a result of DATCP’s Conservation Tracking effort to better understand the potential outcomes the program has on land and water resources in the state.
