Conservation agriculture

Many people and programs help with agricultural conservation for row crops, vegetables, hay, livestock, or other farm enterprises. But where should you start? Conservation agriculture looks different for everyone and depends on the current circumstances of your land and what your future goals are. That’s why we took a look at the top steps landowners can take to learn more, make connections, and find funding.

Whatever your aspirations for farming, connect with resources and support to:

• Adopt sustainable farming practices to improve soil health and crop yields.
• Integrate livestock management with land stewardship.
• Promote financial security around your cropping system.
• Access financial and technical support for sustainable agriculture.

Set Goals

Circle up with your family or partners and block out some time on your own to get clear about your conservation goals for your farmland. Write down your conservation goals, which might range from soil health and water quality, to reducing chemical use, to fixing an immediate erosion problem, to creating long-term soil carbon storage and diverse pollinator and wildlife habitat, and more. Think about how your farming goals may interact with other parts of your life. Revisit your goals after talking to others and learning what to expect given your soil, climate, markets, and type of agriculture. Extension has a variety of tools for planning a new farming enterprise, including a comprehensive Beginning Farmer Resource Guide. Defining goals for your ag lands helps you balance productivity with sustainability for your farm’s future. Clear objectives guide your practices towards improving soil health, reducing erosion, and increasing crop yields, ensuring your farm remains viable and ready for the future of farming.

Learn

Conservation can be part of any farming enterprise. Row crops like corn and soybean can incorporate cover crops and prairie strips. Landowners can choose perennial cover through pasture and alfalfa. Agroforestry brings trees and farming together. 

The Extension agriculture website is a great starting place to find information resources for a wide variety of agricultural enterprises. Other good resources on sustainable agriculture are SARE and ATTRA.  

Once you have done some background research on farming ideas, connect with your local extension crops and soils or livestock educator to find in-depth technical information.  

Attend a farm tour or field day
Check out Extension’s calendar of agriculture events to find field days or farm tours at the bottom of this webpage.  

Connect

Connect with peers
Many grass-roots farm organizations can connect you with other farmers, from local chapters of organizations that include all kinds of farmers to statewide or regional groups focused on a specific type of farming or a specific type of farmer. A partial list of organizations is provided below. Your local extension educator may be able to suggest other farmer networks.  

Statewide general farm organizations with local chapters include Wisconsin Farmers Union and Wisconsin Farm Bureau.  Meanwhile, Wisconsin Women in Conservation is a network for women farmers of all kinds across Wisconsin and in regional groups. Additionally, many areas of the state have Producer-led watershed groups.  

Connect with experts
Find your local Extension agriculture educator and sign up for the Extension farm newsletter.. In addition to the major commodity groups listed here, groups include GrassWorks (grazing), Marbleseed (organic agriculture), FairShare (Community Supported Agriculture), Savanna Institute (agroforestry).

Plan & Act

Make a plan
After a walk through, a conservation specialist can help develop a conservation plan for your land. One important decision is what management activities you will do yourself, and what you may work with a tenant or custom operator to accomplish.  

Write conservation into your farm lease
For landowners who lease land to a farmer, you can help bring conservation into farming practices by working with your farmer and the terms of the lease. Check out some of these guides for conservation leases:  

• Extension provides resources on agricultural land pricing and contracts
• For the Midwest, Land Stewardship Project has a list of potential lease terms and stewardship values on their Conservation Leases webpage.
• Let Farm Commons help you figure out if you need a written lease for your farm and how to do it. 
• Women, Land & Legacy has accumulated a list of resources to help women landowners with lease agreements, rental agreements, and other legal considerations. 

Looking for variety of sample lease arrangements? Check out the resources from Ag Lease 101.

Find Funding & Resources

Find cost share
Sometimes it’s helpful to have money for all kinds of conservation agriculture projects. 

• The primary Federal Agency that can provide technical and financial assistance for installing conservation practices on agricultural land is USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS offers voluntary Programs and Initiatives to provide technical assistance to help manage natural resources to eligible landowners and agricultural produces.
• Additional resources are offered through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices located in county’s throughout Wisconsin. Programs are administered through FSA and available to eligible landowners
• If you’re passionate about habitat for rare and threatened plants and animals, consider the Partners for Fish and Wildlife program through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
• The state used to have more funding in the Wisconsin Forest Landowners Grant Program and Landowner Incentive Program, but they are not consistently funded.

Tax breaks for agricultural preservation
Agricultural land has the lowest property tax rates. Agricultural land includes crops, hay and alfalfa, pasture, silvopasture, maple syrup, and Christmas trees. For questions, check the Department of Revenue’s FAQ which has a link to their annual assessment guide.

Farmland Preservation provides income tax credits for landowners who meet conservation standards and are in a farmland preservation zoning district or enrolled in a farmland preservation agreement.