An Act to create 20.115 (7) (cm) and 93.60 of the statutes; Relating to: creating a grant program for farmers who implement certain sustainable practices, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)
SB871 would create a new sustainable agriculture grant program within the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) and appropriate $2.5 million in general purpose revenue for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The program is intended to help agricultural producers reduce fossil fuel use and increase carbon storage on farmland by funding on-site efficiency measures, carbon-sequestering plantings such as hedgerows and riparian buffers, soil carbon practices such as cover cropping and no-till, and conservation management plans focused on carbon reduction or sequestration.
The bill sets eligibility limits and program design rules. Grants could not be used for projects on land in retirement programs, commercial forest land, or aquaculture-based projects, and applicants generally could not receive a grant for actions already covered by certain other public conservation programs unless they had first applied for those programs. DATCP would be directed to prioritize projects that maximize carbon reduction per grant dollar, leverage nonstate funding, improve air or water quality, provide agronomic benefits, and include farms from different regions and sizes, especially small and medium-sized operations. The bill also allows grants to cover equipment down payments or related loans, permits ongoing or upfront payments for some carbon storage projects, and requires public reporting, access for monitoring, and biennial legislative reports.
SB871 would add a new statutory section establishing a continuing appropriation and grant authority for sustainable agriculture under DATCP, while also amending the state budget schedule to fund the program. It would affect agricultural producers seeking cost-sharing for conservation and climate-related practices, and it would interact with existing conservation programs by treating a grant offer as a bona fide offer of cost-sharing under current soil and water resource management law. The bill would also authorize rulemaking, technical assistance, educational outreach, public disclosure of recipients and program impacts, and legislative oversight through recurring reports.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded votes, so there is no documented floor or committee debate to gauge detailed sentiment. Based on the bill’s sponsorship and structure, the measure appears to have been introduced as a pro-agriculture, pro-conservation, and climate-mitigation initiative aimed at supporting farmers adopting sustainable practices. The bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, indicating it did not advance to enactment despite its policy goals.
The main policy tensions in SB871 are likely to have centered on the use of state funds for climate-oriented agricultural grants, the extent of administrative and reporting requirements, and how to prioritize recipients fairly across regions, farm sizes, and project types. The bill also creates potential overlap with other state, federal, and local conservation programs, which may have raised concerns about duplication or eligibility restrictions. Another possible point of contention is the requirement that grant recipients allow property access and public disclosure of project information, as well as the bill’s treatment of carbon storage valuation and long-term payment structures for uncertain sequestration benefits.