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 September 2026
Table of Contents
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The 2027 Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant application period is now open. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on September 15, 2026. Please refer to the 2027 Request for Proposals for guidance on funding priorities, eligible projects, application information, and grant submission and administration. The RFP and grant application can be found on the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grants webpage under “2027 Application Period.”
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Please contact Andrea Topper or Wrangler Jones when planning your upcoming Nutrient Management Farmer Education classes. Our schedules fill up quickly and we would like to help as many counties as possible.
- 2026 Nutrient Management Regional Meetings have been scheduled. Five meetings will be held throughout the state. More information can be found on DATCP’s Nutrient Management Trainings webpage. Register to attend on the Wisconsin Land + Water website.
- You're invited to participate in the Nutrient Management Quality Assurance and Implementation Team on November 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We’re would like participation from a broad range of partners, including farmers, nutrient management planners, county LWCD staff, etc. We will have a group discussion-based meeting to identify QA and implementation needs. Space is limited! If you are interested, please access the participation request/interest form here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/g/ThnnmibqRj.
- The 2026 SnapPlus V3 Summer Webinar Series is complete. You can access the recordings from each training here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t83eiuo4Xv4&list=PLO2YjFXnCFCk.
- DATCP staff recently hosted a webinar on how to update a nutrient management plan to meet the Silurian Bedrock Performance Standard. To access that webinar and associated resources, visit Wisconsin Land and Water | Silurian Nutrient Management Plan Updates.
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Soil Health Community of Practice: DATCP is planning to launch a Soil Health Community of Practice on Wednesday September 16 at 10 a.m. This meeting will be held virtually. A community of practice is a group of people who share a passion, concern, or set of problems, and who interact regularly to learn how to do things better. These groups focus on collective learning and knowledge sharing. Contact Randy Zogbaum at randalll.zogbaum@wisconsin.gov if you have any feedback to share and/or would be interested in participating.
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Soil Health Field Days/Training: Randy Zogbaum can provide or help develop training at any length or format for the summer field season. Below are three suggested learning objectives for soil health trainings. Email Randy at randalll.zogbaum@wisconsin.gov if you’d like to discuss soil health.
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Learning objective 1 is to discuss what soil health is (and isn't) by defining some basic vocabulary and concepts.
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Learning objective 2 is to demonstrate how to assess and monitor changes and improvements in soil health on Wisconsin Farms.
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Learning objective 3 is to demonstrate how soil health systems can be implemented on Wisconsin farms.
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The Wisconsin Association of County Drainage Boards (WACDB), in cooperation with DATCP, has scheduled five educational outreach meetings – four remain. All meetings will be held from 1-4 p.m. Invitations will be sent out to all drainage boards, county zoning administrators, county treasurers, and county land conservation departments in the next couple of weeks. If you have a topic that you would like to discuss or would like to be included on the WACDB contact list, please contact Richard Gumz, WACDB Chair, at richard@gumzfarmsllc.com; or Nancy Christensen, WACDB Administrative Assistant, at christnjc@hotmail.com.
- Winnebago County
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
Winchester Town Hall
8522 Park Way, Larsen
- Dodge County
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Dodge Administration Building
First Floor Auditorium
27 East Oak St., Juneau
- Annual WACDB Meeting
Monday, November 9, 2026
Portage Best Western
2701 S. CX, Portage
- Please note that Wisconsin law requires that the board file a separate report, for the preceding fiscal year, on each drainage district under the board's jurisdiction. The report(s) must be filed with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; the town board or town zoning committee; the city council, plan commission, or plan committee; and the county zoning administrator, in which district territory is located, a separate report, for the preceding fiscal year, on each drainage district under the board's jurisdiction. Unless the board selects a different fiscal year and notifies DATCP of the selection, the board's fiscal year begins on September 1 and ends the following year on August 31. If you have any questions please contact Bart Chapman, State Drainage Program Manager, at
barton.chapman@wisconsin.gov or (608) 216-6433.
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Landowners with farmland located in a designated AEA who are interested in applying for a Farmland Preservation Agreement are encouraged to apply as early as possible. Farmland Preservation Agreement applications (new and re-enrollments) that are submitted to the department by Thursday, October 1, 2026 will be prioritized for processing for 2026 tax credit eligibility. We will continue to process agreements throughout the end of the year, but agreements submitted to us after October 1 may not be processed (drafted and sent to the landowner for signature) before the end of the taxable year. Completed agreement applications should be submitted to DATCPWorkingLands@wisconsin.gov.
- Those counties, towns, cities, and villages with expiring farmland preservation plans or farmland preservation zoning ordinances should submit recertification application materials by October 1.
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The October 6 meeting of the LWCB will include five-year reviews from Green and Waushara counties, plan revisions from Dunn and Shawano counties, as well as the final allocation plan.
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Agreement Submittal Deadline 11/13/2026 for Payments in 2026
Friday, November 13, 2026, is the deadline for submitting completed CREP agreements (LWR-283) to DATCP enrolled by FSA for FFY2026 (Sign up 65) to ensure they make it through processing for state payments before the end of the calendar year. Agreements submitted to DATCP after that date may be processed and paid after January 1, 2026. If a landowner wants to claim their State CREP payment on 2026 taxes it will need to be paid prior to December 31, 2026. Completed CREP agreements should be submitted via the secure CREP SFTP website following the guidance on the bottom of Page 2 of the LWR-283 Instructions form.
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DATCP received concerned inquiries from landowners regarding the BECI Project and the MariBell Transmission Project, two high voltage powerlines proposed in southwestern Wisconsin. Currently, the AIS Program is awaiting more information in the form of a formal notification from the project developers.
If your office is hearing from concerned landowners at this early stage, the AIS Program recommends landowners start gathering what information they can from opportunities such as public open house meetings scheduled for the projects and learn who their project contact would be. We also recommend potentially impacted landowners review current routing information and share potential concerns with the project developers early on, as this can start discussion of mitigation measures and potential route adjustments ahead of the project being filed with applicable state agencies.
- You can find more information about the AIS program at agimpact.wi.gov. You can also contact DATCPAgImpactStatements@wi.gov with questions regarding any active AIS statement or the AIS program.
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$800,000 will be available for $5 per acre premium rebates for cover crops planted in 2026 and subsequently planted with a 2027 insurable cash crop. Application available beginning December 1, 2026, on a first come, first-served basis and will remain open until January 31, 2027, or until program funding is exhausted.
- 2025-2026 verified land units and eligible applicants will be credited by USDA-RMA on their 2026 crop insurance bill. Further program information is available at covercroprebate.wi.gov.
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