Scott Walker’s Record on Agriculture

Agriculture interests are working behind the scenes with the administration of Gov. Scott Walker as he mounts a major change in the way large livestock farms are regulated in Wisconsin. The Republican governor introduced a wide-ranging rural agenda on Oct. 26 that included a proposal to shift oversight of large dairy farms and other livestock operations to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

New weight restrictions were placed on nearly 200 Wisconsin bridges — most on county and town roads in the western part of the state — this spring as highway engineers try to account for the strain from newer trucks that use tightly-spaced axles to carry more weight in a smaller frame. As a result, farmers and truckers have been forced to take detours to get their products to market and haul half-filled loads from “landlocked” fields… On Friday Gov. Scott Walker announced a list of 113 bridges slated for replacement with $76.4 million in state assistance. But only eight of the 184 restricted bridges are on Walker’s list. “It’s unacceptable in an agricultural state like Wisconsin that we have no schedule for when these bridges are going to be replaced,” said Craig Thompson, president of the Wisconsin Transportation Development Association.

Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday he anticipates asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture for federal disaster assistance for farms damaged in the April 13-16 blizzard… “I think, from what we’ve seen, we’re on track to be able to do that,” Walker said after visiting two southern Oconto County dairy operations owned by brothers Mike and Rod Sievert and brothers Dennis and Leon Gohr. “We’d be asking for as much help as we can get,” Walker said… Walker said state Commissioner of Insurance Ted Nickel has already reached out to insurers carriers to emphasize they provide full coverage to the extent of their plans. “This is unlike anything we’ve seen, at least in recent history,” Walker said. “These are very unique circumstances. We see the roof off, you want to make sure when they’re coming through, adjusters looking at claims (are) accounting for potential structural damage, not just replacing a roof … there are real structural issues that have to be accounted for.”

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is hopeful President Donald Trump’s “aggressive negotiating style” will lead to a positive resolution of a dispute between the U.S. and Canada over the northern country’s dairy policies. “While we appreciate the interest and the focus and certainly the aggressive action (from the federal government) — I think much more aggressive than many of us expected — our hope still is that that would be more than just U.S. action, that that would prompt some Canadian action,” Walker told reporters in Madison on Wednesday.

Gov. Scott Walker has signed into law the first bill to pass the Legislature this session, a measure designed to help Wisconsin’s cheese industry. Walker on Thursday signed the bill making it possible for tax incentives to be extended to help finance construction of a $30 million cheese packaging and distribution plant in the village of Oostburg near Sheboygan.

Wisconsin’s sweeping tax credit that shields manufacturers and farmers from paying state income tax hits its apex this tax year following a three-year implementation plan of progressive rate hikes. ... “It’s not just that this scheme is infinitely more expensive than advertised, it’s that Walker’s slashed public education and higher education funds… to pay for these trickle down policies,” said Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a liberal advocacy group.

The proposed EPA Impaired Waters List for 2016 in Wisconsin contains 1,694 listings, more than double the 761 approved for the list in 2004.The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has recommended an additional 209 waterways for the 2016 list … Critics of Gov. Scott Walker blame the increased pollution in many agricultural counties like Brown, Kewaunee and Manitowoc on his promotion of new jobs in dairy and other agriculture that pollute waterways with runoff from livestock manure, fertilizers, pesticides and byproducts of cheese manufacturing. They claim that Walker has cut the DNR budget to such a low level that, they say, it is nearly impossible for its staff to monitor agriculture runoff that is creating the high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen in the state’s waters.

A measure tucked into Gov. Walker’s 2011 budget that effectively eliminated state income taxes on owners of factories and farms in Wisconsin is costing way more than predicted and contributing mightily to the current budget shortfalls. The Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit was hailed at the time as a job-creating effort that would let businesses invest the savings in new hires and equipment. But recent figures from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau show the credit will cost the state at least $275 million in additional lost tax collections over the next biennium, or more than double what was originally estimated.

Wisconsin Realtors look to be next in line to benefit from Gov. Scott Walker’s “Wisconsin is open for business” vow. While there has been no shortage of speculation behind what is driving Walker’s proposal to loosen restrictions on land purchases by buyers from outside the U.S., Thomas Larson, vice president of legal and public affairs with the Wisconsin Realtors Association, takes some of the credit. Whether or not more is at play in the land sales provision remains to be seen, but Larson says the organization was made aware of the land-purchasing limitations in state law and “let the governor and other legislators know about it.” “We want to encourage people to buy property,” Larson says. “It seemed strange to us that we would have a provision in state law that prevents land ownership.”

Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposes lifting a longtime prohibition on foreign ownership of large tracts of land in Wisconsin — a change that some legislators believe will allow other countries to gain too much control over some of the world's best farmland. The current law, enacted in 1887 and upheld by the state Supreme Court in 1976, bars foreign individuals or corporations from owning more than 640 acres in the state...But two Republicans are among legislators who oppose the proposed changes, saying the current law does a good job of protecting state economic interests.

Slipped into Gov. Scott Walker's 2011-2013 budget at the last moment, the domestic production tax credit will cost the state $360 million in revenue over the next four years and some $130 million each year thereafter, according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Critics warn the impact could be even greater, a key point in a state still struggling with budget shortfalls. The credit applies to profits derived from manufacturing or agriculture and is available both to corporations and shareholders of limited liability companies, S corporations or others who report business income on their individual tax returns. As a result, top bracket taxpayers could see their state income tax rate fall from 7.75 percent to less than zero by 2016, when the credit fully kicks in. That's because any unused credits can be counted against other income, like stock dividends, and carried over for up to 15 years.

Farmland in western Wisconsin would be hit particularly hard by changes to a new farmland preservation program in Gov. Scott Walker's proposed state budget, the leader of a state agriculture organization said...The farmland provision in the 2011-13 state budget would eliminate the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement, or PACE, program, which permanently leases development rights for farmland under pressure from development. The budget provision would wipe out $12 million, matched by funding from local governments or nonprofit land conservancies, that would be available for agricultural leases. The measure also would eliminate a conversion fee that penalizes landowners who rezone agricultural land and allow it to be developed. Eliminating the conversion fee would make it easier for developers to buy agricultural land and continue farming, while paying low taxes, until they are ready to rezone and develop that property, Schultz said.