The 2015-16 State Legislative session in Wisconsin has begun.  The new Wisconsin State Legislature was sworn in on January 5, 2015.  Both the Assembly and the Senate have Republican majorities so Republican members of each house hold the chairman positions for each standing committee.On September 23, 2015, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Board will evaluate a proposal to authorize the DATCP to begin drafting a new administrative rule that will define Wisconsin's new Producer Led Watershed Protection grant program. This program was created as another tool for farmers to use to further develop voluntary, innovative solutions to water quality concerns caused by agricultural nonpoint source pollution.

As a part of the 2015-17 biennial budget bill, the State Legislature created a new grant program at DATCP - the Producer Led Watershed Protection Grant Program - to provide additional funding for water quality abatement activities. The new grant program is specifically for farmers within a watershed to design and lead their own water quality activities.

DATCP is authorized to award grants totaling up to $250,000 annually to qualified groups consisting of agricultural producers that wish to voluntarily conduct nonpoint source water pollution abatement activities in their watersheds. There are statutory conditions that must be met for farmers to be eligible to receive these grants. Initially, a producer group must have at least five agricultural producers, each of whom operates as an eligible farm in one (i.e., in the same) watershed. The producer group must be formed through a memorandum of understanding with at least one of the following organizations, all of which have expertise in conservation or water pollution abatement: the Department of Natural Resources, a county land conservation committee, the University of Wisconsin-Extension or the Discovery Farms program of the University of Wisconsin-Extension or, a nonprofit conservation organization. The group generally must contribute matching funds equal to 50 percent of eligible costs and must file an annual report with the department.

If approved by the DATCP Board, DATCP's proposed administrative rule will further define the grant program by establishing the criteria for the issuance of grant funds.