Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore visited Wisconsin on July 22 to experience water conservation efforts. Wisconsin Farm Bureau hosted the group in Western Wisconsin, visiting several Farm Bureau members’ farms. The day concluded with a roundtable discussion.
“Water has infiltrated everything the EPA does and cares about. Americans need clean water to drink and safe air to breath,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Debra Shore. “We are here to listen to [farmers] because we can’t accomplish anything on the ground without your partnerships.”
The first stop of the day was Kyle Nilsestuen’s farm in Arcadia. Nilsestuen is a Trempealeau County Farm Bureau member and is active in the Buffalo-Trempealeau Farmer Network watershed group. Nilsestuen shared that his end goal is to use less inputs with cover crops, intensive grazing and no-till to enhance soil health and positively impact his bottom line.
Next, the group visited Bragger Family Farm in Buffalo County. Amber Radatz, Program Manager for University of Wisconsin-Division of Extension Agriculture Water Quality Program gave an overview of the Bragger family’s efforts to protect their water resources around their farm. The group visited the original Discovery Farms research site and saw the innovative practices implemented on the Buffalo County farm.
The final farm stop of the day was Noll’s Dairy Farm in Buffalo County. The Noll family is the most recent Wisconsin Leopold Conservation Award recipient. Mark Noll shared his family’s legacy on the banks of the Mississippi River and showed the group their strip-cropping methods.
The day concluded with a roundtable discussion at Danzinger Winery. The discussion was moderated by Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary of Agriculture Randy Romanski. The discussion explored opportunities for partners to engage with farmers to accelerate adoption of conservation practices.
“We need to continue to support innovation and resiliency” said Dani Heisler, DATCP Producer-Led Water Protection Grant Program Manager. “There is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for trying new things and farmers sometimes need a boost of confidence to put the practice into place and need some extra encouragement to keep moving forward.”
The roundtable included farmers and water quality experts from UW-Extension, Discovery Farms, Wisconsin Water Quality Trading Clearinghouse, Alsum Farms, Wisconsin Corn Growers and DATCP. The roundtable culminated a day of celebrating Wisconsin water quality.
“Wisconsin Farm Bureau is proud to showcase our Wisconsin water quality innovation, and we are thrilled to share our members’ efforts with the EPA,” said Jason Mugnaini, Executive Director of Government Relations at Wisconsin Farm Bureau. “This was a great opportunity to unite partners to celebrate Wisconsin agriculture and its commitment to improve water quality.”
Following the roundtable, local elected officials mingled with farmers and water quality experts.
