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 April 2025
Table of Contents
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The 2026 SWRM Grant Application is available on the SWRM webpage. Applications are due April 15, 2025. Project Cooperator grant applicants can also find a NEW APPLICATION on the SWRM webpage.
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NEW FORMS REQUIRED! Many of the SWRM forms have been updated with new content and new numbers. Please refer to Section 3 of the SWRM Grant Resources webpage to access these forms.
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**SWRM Master Contract NOTICE** The SWRM master contracts will be updated this year. These five-year contracts will require an authorized county signature this spring. IF THE COUNTY CONSERVATIONIST IS NOT AN AUTHORIZED SIGNATORY FOR THE COUNTY, please contact Kim or Hailey with the correct name and email address. This master contract will update the 2017 master contract and will be updated every five years. In the intervening years, you will need to acknowledge approval of the Schedule of Awards as in past years.
- We are hosting a Master Contract Office Hour at 11:00m. on Monday, April 28 to discuss the Master Contract update and the processes to be followed to assure your county is eligible to receive SWRM funding.
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The DATCP North Area Conservation Engineer position is posted on the WiscJobs website. The job posting can be found at https://wj.wi.gov/17350. The deadline to apply for this position is at 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1.
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- We are working on setting SnapPlus V3 Training dates and locations. More information will be released soon!
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2026 Nutrient Management Farmer Education Grant Applications are due April 15. Request for Applications and the application itself can be found on the NMFE webpage here: Nutrient Management Farmer Education Grants. Please direct any questions to Andrea Topper at andrea.topper@wisconsin.gov.
- Counties that would like some assistance on Nutrient Management Quality Assurance Reviews should email Cody Calkins at cody.calkins@wisconsin.gov. We are looking at providing assistance this year to at least three counties.
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At the April 1, 2025 LWCB meeting, Marathon and Jefferson counties will be presenting LWRM plan five-year reviews to the board. Lafayette County will present a plan revision.
- On May 6, 2025, the LWCB Advisory Committee on Research will convene on Microsoft Teams at 9:00 a.m.
- LWRM Annual Workplans are due April 15, 2025. Please submit them to Katy Smith at katy.smith@wisconsin.gov.
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The DATCP Drainage Program is developing a 2025 quarterly newsletter. The intent of the newsletter will be to highlight successes and challenges facing drainage districts and County Drainage Boards throughout the State. The newsletter is part of the department’s overall effort to improve the effectiveness and efficiencies for all stakeholders involved with Wisconsin Drainage Law. The department is seeking input for the quarterly newsletter. If you have a project or information that you would like to highlight, please send your ideas to Barton T. Chapman, P.E., Drainage Program Manager at barton.chapman@wisconsin.gov.
- The Wisconsin Association of Drainage Boards (WADB), in cooperation with DATCP, will be holding regional educational outreach meetings throughout the state in 2025. Meeting logistics will be shared as they become available.
- All activities within drainage districts are managed and administered by a county drainage board. Contact information can be found on the Drainage Program website or by contacting Barton T. Chapman, Drainage Program Manager, at barton.chapman@wisconsin.gov.
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The AIS program published AIS 4622 for the Rochester Lateral Project in Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee counties on March 11, 2025.
- You can find more information about the AIS program at wi.gov. You can also contact DATCPAgImpactStatements@wisconsin.gov with questions regarding any active AIS statement or the AIS program.
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We are currently accepting petitions for the 2025 Agricultural Enterprise Area program until August 1. Due to the large volume of interest in petitioning this year, we are asking all potential 2025 AEA petitions submit a draft petition narrative by July 1, 2025 for a pre-submission review. If you are interested in petitioning for an AEA during this petition cycle, please contact Wednesday Coye at wednesday.coye@wisconsin.gov to review the petition process and schedule you petitioner interview. For more information AEA petition process, including application materials and examples of successful petitions, visit the Petitioning for AEA Designation webpage.
- DATCP's Farmland Preservation Tax Credits webpage has been updated with additional information to help landowners and tax preparers choose the correct tax schedule when filing for an FP tax credit. If you receive any questions from landowners or tax preparers regarding questions related to tax credit claims or tax credit denials, please contact Wednesday Coye at wednesday.coye@wisconsin.gov. Landowners who have received a denial letter have a limited amount of time to file an appeal with Department of Revenue; timely action is critical.
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Check for missing FFY2024 agreements: DATCP finished the annual CREP enrollment audit with FSA for FFY2024 and found several counties where contracts enrolled in FSA CRP1’s have not yet been submitted to DATCP. If your county is currently working on CREP contracts that haven’t been submitted yet and you have questions about completing the agreement application, please reach out to Stacy Tierman at stacy.tierman@wisconsin.gov. DATCP staff will also be contacting counties with missing agreements that we don’t hear from for an update.
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Notify DATCP of submittals to the CREP SFTP site: Please remember to email the DATCP CREP email account (datcpcrep@wisconsin.gov) when you submit an agreement, transfer, or cost share request is the CREP SFTP site. In the email, please indicate what type of material was submitted along with the landowner's name(s). This will help ensure that DATCP staff know that something was submitted, purpose, and who submitted it in case we have questions. NOTE: DO NOT CREATE FOLDERS WHEN UPLOADING DOCUMENTS TO THE SFTP SITE. ONLY UPLOAD PDFS.
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The online Soil Health curriculum is live and available on our soilhealthtraining.wi.gov website. The purpose of this curriculum is to develop a common definition and understanding of soil health and develop some guideposts of how to implement soil health systems on Wisconsin farms. Modules 1-3 establish a common language of soil health in Wisconsin agriculture. Module 4 of the training will be developed in 2025.
- For questions regarding these trainings or the soil health program, or if you have a need related to in-person soil health trainings or events, please contact Randy Zogbaum at randalll.zogbaum@wisconsin.gov.
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Program application was available from December 2, 2024 to January 28, 2025 and received over 224,000 acres to review for premium rebate eligibility on a first come, first served basis. Thanks for helping to spread the word about this opportunity to your farm operators. Eligible producers will see a rebate credit on their spring crop insurance premium billing statement.
- More information about this program is available online at covercroprebate.wi.gov.
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Nine projects were chosen for NOPP grants for Cycle 3 of the program, awarding $1 million to grantees and UW for research support. With a total request of $1,153,862.57, difficult decisions were required. Thank you to the scoring team for the professional review and recommendations!
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2025 was the most competitive year yet for the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant. We received applications from 49 producer-led groups, for a total funding request of over $1.6 million. With a program budget of $1 million, the grants review committee had to make extremely difficult decisions. Priorities were to fund new viable groups while also providing the highest level of funding merited to as many existing groups as possible.
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