Wisconsin Assembly Bill AB93

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/28/25
• Refer: 2/28/25
• Report Pass: 1/14/26
• Refer: 1/14/26
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to renumber 94.64 (1) (a); to amend 94.64 (3m) (a) (intro.), 94.64 (3m) (a) 1., 94.64 (9) (c), 94.65 (4) (a) (intro.) and 94.65 (4) (b); to create 94.64 (1) (ag), 94.64 (1) (u), 94.64 (2) (f), 94.64 (3m) (a) 3., 94.65 (1) (bm), 94.65 (1) (fm) and 94.65 (5m) of the statutes; Relating to: the distribution and labeling of fertilizers and soil or plant additives produced from manure. (FE)

Summary

AB93 would create a special statutory framework for fertilizers and soil or plant additives made from unmanipulated animal or vegetable manure that has been converted into compost or vermicompost, including their derivatives. The bill defines new terms such as “beneficial substance,” “vermicompost,” “compost-based soil or plant additive,” and “typical analysis,” and then uses those definitions to carve out exceptions from existing fertilizer labeling, testing, and guarantee requirements. Under current law, many fertilizers must meet a minimum combined nutrient threshold and may need a guaranteed analysis or other substantiation. AB93 would allow manure-derived compost and vermicompost fertilizers to be distributed even if they contain less than 24 percent combined nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and it would permit labels, invoices, and statements to rely on a typical analysis or other scientifically validated analytical method instead of a guaranteed analysis. For compost-based soil or plant additives, the bill would also bar DATCP from requiring controlled experimental field tests to prove efficacy and would allow typical analysis to substitute for guaranteed analysis in certain labeling and permit contexts.

Impact

The bill would amend Wisconsin statutes in chapters 94.64 and 94.65 to create a product-specific exemption for compost- and vermicompost-based fertilizers and soil additives made from manure. It would limit DATCP’s authority to require certain nutrient guarantees, controlled experimental field tests, and some forms of substantiation for these products, while preserving the department’s general oversight of fertilizer and soil additive labeling and permitting. The practical effect would be to make it easier for producers of manure-derived compost products to market them under a less restrictive testing and labeling regime than other fertilizers and soil additives.

Sentiment

The available record suggests the bill was introduced as a targeted regulatory relief measure for compost and vermicompost products, with no recorded committee transcript debate or vote history in the provided materials. Its failure to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 indicates it did not advance to enactment. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to have been framed as a technical agriculture and product-labeling measure rather than a broad policy change, and there is no documented opposition or support in the supplied discussion materials.

Contention

The main policy tension in AB93 is between easing regulatory burdens for manure-derived compost products and maintaining existing consumer-protection and product-verification standards. Supporters would likely favor the bill’s flexibility for producers by allowing typical analysis instead of guaranteed analysis and by eliminating the need for controlled experimental field tests. Potential critics would likely focus on whether the bill weakens nutrient-content assurances, reduces DATCP’s ability to verify efficacy, or creates a special exemption for one class of fertilizer and soil additives that is not available to other products.