December 2, 2021 - Introduced by Representatives Kitchens, Novak, Tranel,
Shankland, Krug, Hong, Milroy, Mursau, Neubauer, Oldenburg,
Penterman, Plumer, Tauchen, Petryk, Subeck, Spiros, Considine, Pope,
Vining, Spreitzer, Ohnstad, Conley and Tusler, cosponsored by Senators
Cowles, Testin, Ballweg, Bernier, Petrowski, Pfaff, Ringhand, Roys, Smith
and Wimberger. Referred to Committee on Agriculture.

AB727,1,6 1An Act to create 20.115 (4) (s), 20.115 (7) (u), 20.285 (1) (t), 36.25 (6) (f), 93.60
2and 93.65 of the statutes; relating to: creating a commercial nitrogen
3optimization pilot program, providing crop insurance rebates for cover crops,
4creating a hydrogeologist position, extending the time limit for emergency rule
5procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting
6rule-making authority, and making an appropriation.

This bill creates a commercial nitrogen optimization pilot program, provides
crop insurance premium rebates for planting cover crops, and creates a new
hydrogeologist position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of
Extension.

The bill requires the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer
Protection to create a commercial nitrogen optimization pilot program, under which
DATCP awards grants to farmers to implement a project, for at least two growing
seasons, that optimizes the application of commercial nitrogen. The farmer must
collaborate with a University of Wisconsin System institution to monitor grant
projects on-site. The institution may receive a grant for its monitoring requirements
under the bill.

Under the bill, a grant to a farmer and the eligible university entity
collaborating with the farmer may not exceed, in total, $50,000. No more than 20
percent of this total amount may be awarded to the collaborating university entity.

The bill requires DATCP to attempt to provide grants to farmers in different
parts of the state and to provide grants for projects in areas that have different soil
types or geologic characteristics. The bill requires DATCP to prioritize projects that
are innovative and that are not currently funded through existing state or federal
programs and to prioritize farmers who plan to implement projects for longer
periods. The bill also requires DATCP to collaborate with the farmer and the
university when awarding grants under the pilot program.

Under the bill, a farmer and the university collaborating with the farmer are
immune from civil liability and may not be subject to any remedial action or other
administrative or enforcement action from DATCP or the Department of Natural
Resources for any discharge of environmental pollution from the land involved in the
project, if the actions were taken in good faith and conformed to the project
specifications that were proposed in an application for a grant under the program.

In addition, 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.