MADISON, Wis.  — For the Wisconsin Farmers Union, waking up to snow on Friday morning wasn't the only thing that made the day feel like the holidays.

“It felt like Christmas when we saw that announcement,” said Bobbi Wilson, WFU Policy and Special Projects Coordinator.

Wilson was talking about the announcement Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D-WI) made Friday. He will include $43 million in investments into the state's agriculture systems in his 2021-23 budget proposal. 

“A lot of the things that we had been asking for and advocating for were included in this proposal and it felt like this was taking a number of pages directly from the Wisconsin Farmers Union policy book,” Wilson said.

Evers' investment proposal includes four main topics: 1) Increasing access to local and international markets, 2) Improve local meat processing, 3) promoting agriculture innovation and conservation, and 4) supporting farmer's mental health.

“Long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and then throughout this pandemic, our farmers and producers were fighting every day to save their farms and to save their industry while helping us put food on our tables,” Evers said in a press release. “It’s time to join in this fight for Wisconsin’s farmers and their families and agricultural industries to ensure future economic prosperity our rural communities and our entire state.”

Agriculture is a $104.8 billion industry in Wisconsin and one in nine people in the state have a job related to agriculture.

“It's really important that he's made these investments in innovation and support for agriculture,” said Randy Romanski, Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) secretary designee. 

DATCP would oversee many of the funds being invested into programs within the agency.

The proposals would need legislative support to make it into the budget, which has been adversaries to many of Ever's initiatives in the past. However, Romanski is hopeful that lawmakers will support the investments into agriculture.

“I think there's a great opportunity for bipartisan support for so many of these things that are included in this package,” Romanski said.

The WFU is also hopeful that the proposals will be met with legislative support.

“The majority of these proposed items do have bipartisan support,” Wilson said. “So we're hopeful that members of the legislature and especially members of the Joint Finance Committee will support this proposal in the next budget.”

The Wisconsin Dairy Business Association also has voiced support for the investment.

“Investments in our farmers and processors are critically important to the strength of Wisconsin’s rural communities and the state’s economy overall. The budget plan by Governor Evers shows that he clearly understands this,” said Amy Penterman, DBA President in a press release. 

John Haag, a dairy farmer in Dane County and board member of the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin, said the investments would be a “shot in the arm” to the agriculture industry and to Wisconsin. 

“Any time you can get that kind of a infusion of money into the industry, it's going to help the whole Wisconsin economy,” Haag said.

Haag was particularly happy with the increase to funding for programs that promote local food systems. Like the 'Farm to School', 'Farm to Fork,' and the 'Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin,' programs.

“Small programs end up having a huge impact on the statewide situation in agriculture,” Haag said.

Haag said he was also happy to see additional funding to the Something Special From Wisconsin program, which promotes Wisconsin-made products.

Evers' proposal would also funnel $20 million to connecting Wisconsin food banks directly to food producers in an effort to get local food to people struggling with hunger.

“Many Wisconsin residents are struggling to afford wholesome and nutritious food because of lost jobs and business closures due to the pandemic,” Penterman said. “The federal Farmers to Families Food Box program last year helped families survive and also assisted farmers by boosting demand for milk and cheese. This new investment would provide another lifeline.”

Evers also wants to increase funding to Dairy Processor Grants by $1.2 million to improve processing in the state. Haag was happy to see that, particularly as processing issues early on in the pandemic forced some milk to be dumped. 

“If we can help the processors come up with more innovative ways for how they can change gears real fast in another situation like that it's going to help the consumer in the long run,” Haag said.

A large portion of the proposal seeks to improve Wisconsin's meat processing industry. Meat producers already faced bottlenecks, and the pandemic made that much worse, with some producers on a list a up to a year out to have their animals processed. 

The proposal looks to bolster local meat processing options and improve the existing processing capacity. WFU said it will improve options for producers.

“So this would spur some investment in new meat processing facilities which would give farmers more options for where they could have their animals processed,” Wilson said.

Another branch of the proposal seeks to increase funding to innovation and conservation programs. The budget would add funding to existing grant programs that seek to improve water quality through conservation-minded practices, as well as create other farm conservation grant programs.

“Making sure that we are protecting our soil and water that are so important to everybody,” Romanski said.

Part of the conservation funding initiatives Evers proposed also provides more money for University of Wisconsin Agriculture Extension agents to help with technical assistance in the field.

“Agricultural research is so important as we saw with the creation of the Dairy Innovation Hub,” Penterman said. “More support for UW-Extension will strengthen this commitment and keep Wisconsin at the forefront.”

Finally, Evers' proposal seeks to help farmers struggling with mental health issues. It plans to do that by continuing funding for the Farmer Mental Health Assistance Program as well as creating a Regional Farmer Mental Health Program. 

“We know that this has been a particularly challenging year for agriculture, but agriculture has been experiencing a lot of challenges lately, economic challenges,” Wilson said. “So we just really appreciate coupling this investment in agriculture to deal with some of those economic challenges, but also helping to support farmers who are struggling with their mental health as a result of these pressures.”