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LRB-5276/1
MCP/KP/ZDW:cs/kf/km/ae
2019 - 2020 LEGISLATURE
January 24, 2020 - Introduced by Senators Cowles, Jacque, Petrowski, Feyen,
Olsen, Wanggaard, Wirch and Smith, cosponsored by Representatives
Tranel, Kurtz, Tauchen, Krug, Summerfield, Novak, Kitchens, Felzkowski,
Shankland, Pope, Hebl, Kulp, Gruszynski, VanderMeer, Anderson,
Zimmerman, Considine, Neubauer, Oldenburg, Sargent, Mursau, Ballweg,
Doyle, Magnafici, Kolste, Petryk, Plumer, Swearingen, Vining, Stubbs,
Subeck, Milroy, Katsma, C. Taylor, Quinn, Spreitzer, Sinicki, Emerson,
Zamarripa, Ohnstad, Cabrera, Billings, Born and Spiros. Referred to
Committee on Natural Resources and Energy.
SB715,1,7 1An Act to amend 92.14 (6) (c), 93.59 (2) (a), 93.59 (2) (d), 93.59 (3), 281.68 (1t)
2(intro.) and 281.68 (3) (a) 1.; and to create 20.115 (4) (f), 20.115 (4) (fm), 20.115
3(7) (d), 93.485, 93.65 and 281.68 (1) (ar) of the statutes; relating to: grants and
4funding for water stewardship certification, a grazing coordinator position,
5producer-led watershed protection grants, lake protection, soil and water
6conservation, and crop insurance premium rebates for cover crops; granting
7rule-making authority; and making an appropriation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Grazing coordinator
The bill provides funding for one full-time equivalent GPR position in the
Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to serve as a coordinator
for managed grazing initiatives in this state. The bill provides $64,800 in fiscal year
2019-20 for the position, and $86,400 in fiscal year 2020-21. Under the bill, the new
position would convene a stakeholder working group to develop a state grazing plan,
serve as the primary point of contact for assistance on effective grazing strategies,
identify new technologies and best practices in grazing that are best suited for the
state, and leverage federal funding to promote effective grazing practices and assist
producers in implementing those practices.

Water stewardship certification
The bill creates a grant program for DATCP to provide grants to reimburse the
costs for agricultural producers to apply for a certification of water stewardship from
the Alliance for Water Stewardship. The grants must be made to the party that pays
those costs and may be made only after the certification is provided. Before awarding
a grant, DATCP must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the party
that pays the certification costs. The bill requires DATCP, in prioritizing these grant
awards, to be guided by an agricultural producer's overall impact to water quality.
A grant may reimburse up to 50 percent of costs and may not exceed $10,000. The
bill creates a new $250,000 continuing general fund appropriation for this purpose.
Cover crop rebates
The bill authorizes DATCP to cooperate with the Risk Management Agency of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide rebates in the amount of $5 per acre
of a cover crop planted for crop insurance premiums paid for those acres. Under the
bill, DATCP determines the cover crops for which crop insurance premium rebates
are provided, and a person must plant cover crops before submitting an application
to DATCP for a crop insurance premium rebate. Also, under the bill, a crop insurance
premium rebate may not be provided for the planting of a cover crop on an acre for
which funding for planting a cover crop is available from a producer-led watershed
protection grant, the soil and water resource management program, the federal
Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or the federal Conservation
Stewardship Program. The bill creates a new $200,000 continuing general fund
appropriation for this purpose.
Producer-led watershed protection grants
Under current law, DATCP administers a program to provide watershed
protection grants to producer-led groups made up of farmers located in one
watershed. This bill allows grants under the program to be awarded to producer-led
groups that are made up of farmers located in adjacent watersheds. The bill also
creates a new $250,000 annual general fund appropriation for the producer-led
watershed protection grants.
Lake protection grants
Under current law, DNR provides lake protection grants for monitoring and
improving water quality in lakes. Currently, eligible recipients for these grants
include nonprofit conservation organizations, counties and municipalities, qualified
lake associations, town sanitary districts, qualified school districts, public inland
lake protection and rehabilitation districts, and other local governmental units that
are established for the purpose of lake management. This bill provides that
producer-led groups are eligible to receive lake protection grants provided by DNR.
The bill defines “producer-led group” to mean any group that meets the criteria for
a producer-led watershed protection grant issued by DATCP.
Soil and water resource conservation grants — allocation plan
Under rules promulgated by DATCP, when DATCP prepares its annual
allocation plan for soil and water resource conservation grants to counties, it may
consider a county's demonstrated commitment to implementing the county's

approved land and water resource management plan. Under the bill, if DATCP
considers this factor in preparing the annual allocation plan, it must also take into
account any externalities, such as weather, that may have affected the county's
ability to implement its management plan.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB715,1 1Section 1 . 20.005 (3) (schedule) of the statutes: at the appropriate place, insert
2the following amounts for the purposes indicated: - See PDF for table PDF - See PDF for table PDF - See PDF for table PDF
SB715,2 3Section 2 . 20.115 (4) (f) of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,3,64 20.115 (4) (f) Water stewardship certification grants. As a continuing
5appropriation, the amounts in the schedule for water certification grants under s.
693.485.
SB715,3
1Section 3. 20.115 (4) (fm) of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,4,42 20.115 (4) (fm) Crop insurance rebates for planting cover crops. As a continuing
3appropriation, the amounts in the schedule to make payments under s. 93.65 for crop
4insurance premium rebates for the planting of cover crops.
SB715,4 5Section 4 . 20.115 (7) (d) of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,4,76 20.115 (7) (d) Soil and water management; producer-led grants. The amounts
7in the schedule for producer-led watershed protection grants under s. 93.59.
SB715,5 8Section 5 . 92.14 (6) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,4,209 92.14 (6) (c) When preparing an annual grant allocation plan under par. (b),
10the department and the department of natural resources shall consider the existence
11and location of impaired water bodies that the department of natural resources has
12identified to the federal environmental protection agency under 33 USC 1313 (d) (1)
13(A) and agricultural enterprise areas designated under s. 91.84, and shall give
14priority to providing cost-sharing for nutrient management planning projects that
15are in or near, or that affect, those areas. When preparing an annual grant allocation
16plan, if the department considers a county's demonstrated commitment to
17implementing a land and water resource management plan approved under s. 92.10
18(4) (d), the department shall take into account any externalities, such as weather,
19that may have affected the county's ability to demonstrate commitment to
20implementing the plan.
SB715,6 21Section 6 . 93.485 of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,5,8 2293.485 Water stewardship certification grant program. The department
23may award grants from the appropriation under s. 20.115 (4) (f) to reimburse the
24costs for an agricultural producer to apply for a certification of water stewardship
25from the Alliance for Water Stewardship. The department shall award grants under

1this section to the party that pays those costs and may make an award only upon the
2agricultural producer's receipt of the certification. Before awarding a grant under
3this section the department shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with
4the party that pays the certification costs, which may include types of eligible costs
5and the length of time that the certification must be maintained. In prioritizing
6grant awards under this section, the department shall be guided by an agricultural
7producer's overall impact to water quality. An award under this section may
8reimburse up to 50 percent of costs, in an amount not to exceed $10,000.
SB715,7 9Section 7 . 93.59 (2) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,5,1310 93.59 (2) (a) The producer-led group includes at least 5 agricultural producers
11each of whom operates an eligible farm, as defined in s. 91.86 (1), in one watershed
12or in adjacent watersheds. The group may include additional agricultural producers
13who are not required to be operators of eligible farms.
SB715,8 14Section 8 . 93.59 (2) (d) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,5,1715 93.59 (2) (d) The group assists agricultural producers in the watershed or
16watersheds
under par. (a) to voluntarily conduct nonpoint source water pollution
17abatement activities.
SB715,9 18Section 9 . 93.59 (3) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,5,2219 93.59 (3) A producer-led group that receives, or on whose behalf a legal entity
20receives, a grant under this section shall annually file a report with the department
21describing the activities conducted with the grant and the impact of those activities
22on water quality in the watershed or watersheds under sub. (2) (a).
SB715,10 23Section 10. 93.65 of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,6,5 2493.65 Crop insurance premium rebates for planting cover crops. (1)
25From the appropriation under s. 20.115 (4) (fm), the department may provide rebates

1in the amount of $5 for each acre of a cover crop planted for crop insurance premiums
2paid on those acres. In providing crop insurance premium rebates under this section,
3the department may cooperate with the risk management agency of the U.S.
4department of agriculture, and may cooperate with any related federal agency, state
5agency, or agricultural organization.
SB715,6,7 6(2) In providing crop insurance premium rebates under this section, the
7department may promulgate the following rules:
SB715,6,98 (a) Rules determining the cover crops for which crop insurance premium
9rebates are provided under this section.
SB715,6,1110 (b) Rules establishing procedures for verifying that a cover crop is planted on
11acres for which a crop insurance premium rebate is provided under this section.
SB715,6,15 12(3) The department may not provide a crop insurance premium rebate under
13this section for the planting of a cover crop on an acre for which funding for planting
14a cover crop is available from a federal or state grant or incentive program other than
15this section, including from any of the following:
SB715,6,1716(a) The federal environmental quality incentives program under 16 USC
173839aa
to 3839-8.
SB715,6,1918(b) The federal conservation stewardship program under 16 USC 3839aa-21
19to 3839aa-25.
SB715,6,2020 (c) A producer-led watershed protection grant under s. 93.59.
SB715,6,2121 (d) The soil and water resource management program under s. 92.14.
SB715,6,24 22(4) To receive a crop insurance premium rebate under this section, a person
23shall submit an application to the department after a cover crop is planted on the
24acres for which the person applies for a crop insurance premium rebate.
SB715,7,4
1(5) The department shall award crop insurance premium rebates in the order
2that applications that are approved are received, and may not limit the number of
3acres for which a person may receive a crop insurance premium rebate under this
4section.
SB715,7,7 5(6) The department may conduct inspections to verify that recipients of a crop
6insurance premium rebate are complying with the provisions of this section and any
7rules promulgated under this section.
SB715,11 8Section 11 . 281.68 (1) (ar) of the statutes is created to read:
SB715,7,109 281.68 (1) (ar) “Producer-led group” means any group that meets the criteria
10under s. 93.59 (2).
SB715,12 11Section 12 . 281.68 (1t) (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,7,1512 281.68 (1t) Lake monitoring and protection contracts. (intro.) The
13department may award contracts to public groups or persons for the creation and
14support of a statewide lake monitoring network. The contracts may include
15payments for the costs of all of the following:
SB715,13 16Section 13 . 281.68 (3) (a) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
SB715,7,2217 281.68 (3) (a) 1. Eligible recipients to consist of nonprofit conservation
18organizations, as defined in s. 23.0955 (1), producer-led groups conducting
19producer-led group projects,
counties, cities, towns, villages, qualified lake
20associations, town sanitary districts, qualified school districts, public inland lake
21protection and rehabilitation districts, and other local governmental units, as
22defined in s. 66.0131 (1) (a), that are established for the purpose of lake management.
SB715,14 23Section 14. Fiscal changes.
SB715,8,1724 (1) Grazing coordinator position. In the schedule under s. 20.005 (3) for the
25appropriation to the department of agriculture, trade and consumer protection

1under s. 20.115 (7) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2019-20 is increased by
2$64,800 to increase the FTE positions for the department by 1.0 GPR position for
3coordinating managed grazing initiatives in this state. In the schedule under s.
420.005 (3) for the appropriation to the department of agriculture, trade and
5consumer protection under s. 20.115 (7) (a), the dollar amount for fiscal year 2020-21
6is increased by $86,400 to provide funding for the position authorized under this
7subsection. The position created under this subsection shall have the following
8duties: convene a multi-stakeholder working group to expand and enhance grazing
9activities in this state, which may include federal, state, and local agencies, farm
10groups, agriculture businesses, academic institutions, and interested nonprofit
11organizations, and which should have the primary task of developing a state grazing
12plan; serve as the primary point of contact for government agencies and producers
13needing technical assistance on effective grazing strategies and methods; identify
14new technologies and best practices in grazing that are best suited and most
15applicable for the state's landscape and state producers; leverage federal funding to
16promote effective, economic grazing practices and assist producers in implementing
17these practices.
SB715,8,1818 (End)
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