MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin's agriculture industry stands to be impacted by the federal infrastructure package that President Joe Biden touted in La Crosse Tuesday. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Wisconsin Farmer's Union said improved broadband would help the state's agriculture industry remain competitive

  • The WFU said many of Wisconsin's roads and bridges can't support weight capacity needs for commodity transport

  • President Joe Biden was initially slated to visit a farm with USDA secretary Tom Vilsack, but changed those plans to go to La Crosse and talk about infrastructure on the whole


Wisconsin Farmer's Union president Darin Von Ruden said roads and bridges that can't handle agriculture product shipments are a problem. It ends up adding expenses for commodities. The farmers union hopes the state's roads and bridges can be improved as part of the federal infrastructure package.

Road and bridge improvement one of the factors that could help Wisconsin agriculture.

“So if we can get some of those bridges updated so they can be used with heavier weight that will allow some of those deficiencies to come back into agriculture,” Von Ruden said.

The WFU also say the broadband work in the infrastructure plan will help the state's agriculture industry.

“That will allow farmers of all commodities to be more competitive in the markets that they're in and allow the consumers to be more competitive in the markets that they're in and also allow the consumers to be able to reach out to those farmers and get the products from them,” Von Ruden said.

President Biden was initially slated to visit a western Wisconsin farm with his agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack Tuesday, but changed those plans.

President Joe Biden speaks in La Crosse Tuesday (Photo courtesy CNN)

Von Ruden said he would have rather seen Biden come to a farm, but understood the need to talk about infrastructure on the whole and not just the agriculture sector's needs.

“It's disappointing, but I'm glad to have the President come to western Wisconsin to talk about the issues that really he campaigned on and said he was going to get an infrastructure bill together,” Von Ruden said.