On Dec. 8, more than 270 delegates at the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation’s 106th Annual Meeting established new policy directives. This was part of Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s Annual Meeting where more than 1,100 farmers came together to celebrate agriculture, recognize our achievements and members and elect leaders for the upcoming year. Brad Olson, Polk County farmer, was re-elected as president for a second term. 

Wisconsin Farm Bureau delegates adopted policies that will be included in the organization’s 2026 policy book. Resolutions were submitted by delegates as part of the organization’s annual grassroots policy development process. Topics discussed on the delegate floor included hunting and wildlife, renewable energy and transportation.

During the hunting and wildlife discussion, delegates voted to increase efforts to reduce wildlife damage to farms by increasing the number of hunting tags for bears statewide, strengthening the management of the state’s elk herd to limit its impact on agriculture and creating a spring hunting season specifically on farm fields for sandhill cranes.

During the renewable energy discussion, delegates voted to support stronger testing and detection of stray voltage and ensuring that new energy, battery storage and data center projects fully evaluate their impacts on agriculture. 

Delegates from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau’s 61 county Farm Bureaus also voted to: 

• Oppose DATCP or the state of Wisconsin substantially increasing licensing fees on agricultural programs.
• Oppose statewide ballot initiatives.
• Support timely access to fire, EMS and disaster response resources for agricultural operations and rural communities.
• Support requiring schools to be added to the list of places required to offer real butter.
• Support additional government incentives in mental health services for farmers and rural communities.
• Support policies that protect Wisconsin’s agricultural land, water resources and rural infrastructure from adverse impacts caused by the development of data centers and other high-consumption facilities.

On the federal level, delegates voted to:

• Designate USDA Farm Service Agency staff as essential during government shutdowns.
• Support an accelerated track program for large animal veterinarians.
• Support Smith-Lever Funding for its originally intended uses for agriculture, including 4-H and youth programming.
• Support making Dairy Margin Coverage reflect the total cost of milk production.
• Support increased outreach by NRCS employees on USDA programs.

The federal resolutions will be forwarded to the American Farm Bureau Federation for consideration at its annual convention next month.

Submitted by Mary Brand, Pierce County Farm Bureau President