Press Release: Gov. Evers Announces Wisconsin Becomes a Top 10 U.S. Food, Forestry, and Ag Exporter Under Evers Administration 

State of Wisconsin sent this bulletin at 09/23/2026 05:00 AM CDT
Office of Governor Tony Evers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 23, 2026
Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov 
 
Gov. Evers Announces Wisconsin Becomes a Top 10 U.S. Food, Forestry, and Ag Exporter Under Evers Administration 
Governor warns Wisconsinites that reckless Trump and Republican trade wars and tariff taxes could cause state success to backslide, slams Congressional Republicans for continued inaction
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today announced that Wisconsin is now the 10th largest exporter of agricultural products in the United States, with 2026 Quarter 2(Q2) reports showing Wisconsin exports reached $2.13 billion in the first half of 2026—the highest first half year on record. According to the Q2 report, Wisconsin exports increased 5.42 percent compared to the first half of 2025. Gov. Evers and the Evers Administration have spent nearly eight years working to bolster the state’s agricultural industries and family farms that have been hit particularly hard over the last decade. Farm bankruptcies skyrocketed before Gov. Evers took office, prompting the governor to call a special session of the Wisconsin State Legislature in 2020 to respond to pressing challenges facing the state’s family farms and agricultural industries. Republican lawmakers chose to gavel out of the special session without sending any of the bills to the governor.

The results for Q2 coincide with President Donald J. Trump launching a foreign war in Iran and before implementing reckless tariff taxes that increased costs for Wisconsinites and Americans, sparking a trade war with Wisconsin’s largest export partner. Gov. Evers celebrated the news today while issuing an urgent warning to Wisconsinites that President Trump’s reckless trade wars and erratic on-and-off-again tariff taxes may cause America’s Dairyland to backslide from its spot as one of the nation’s top exporters despite the Evers Administration’s efforts. 

“We’ve fought to support Wisconsin’s family farms and agricultural producers during my time as governor, and we’ve worked hard to make sure our farmers, producers, processors, and all of the folks who make up our export industry have the resources and support they need to grow and expand their businesses and continue making the high-quality products Wisconsin is known for,” Gov. Evers said. 

“While this is great news for Wisconsin, our farm families, our rural communities, and our economy, it’s clear that Republicans’ reckless trade wars and tariff taxes aren’t helping Wisconsin’s farmers or our agricultural industry and could jeopardize all of the important progress we’ve made over the last eight years,” continued Gov. Evers. “Republicans have enabled President Trump to target Wisconsin’s largest export partner, raise prices on working families, and cause the cost of fuel to skyrocket, making the cost of doing business and getting products to market even more expensive. We haven’t worked this hard during my time as governor to have President Trump and Republicans undo all of our progress making Wisconsin one of the top states in the country for agricultural exports, that’s for darn sure.”

For nearly 18 months, Congress has abdicated its constitutional responsibilities, standing idly by while President Trump imposed, paused, reimposed, and rewrote tariff taxes on Wisconsin’s closest trading partners by proclamation, and Wisconsin businesses and consumers have paid at every turn. The Supreme Court has already struck down the president’s earlier tariffs on Canada, a federal trade court has ruled against the ones he imposed to replace them, and each time his answer has been to reach for another law, most recently a 96-year-old statute that had never been used to impose a single tariff.

Earlier this month, Gov. Evers sent a letter to every Republican member of Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation, slamming them for enabling President Trump’s latest trade war with Canada, Wisconsin’s largest export partner, which he started with unnecessary tariff proclamations in July. The governor’s letter comes as Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect on Sept. 8, 2026, and are expected to send costs skyrocketing across the state. In his letter, the governor outlined the disastrous impacts this trade war will have on Wisconsin’s farmers, producers, manufacturers, and working families and pointedly called out Republican members of Wisconsin’s own Congressional delegation who represent key portions of Wisconsin’s rural and farming communities for caving to President Trump on his erratic tariffs and reckless trade wars, leaving Wisconsin farmers and producers behind, including: 
  • U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin);  
  • U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (WI-01);  
  • U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden (WI-03);  
  • U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05);  
  • U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (WI-06);  
  • U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI-07); and  
  • U.S. Rep. Tony Wied (WI-08). 

Gov. Evers has made a point of calling out Congressional Republicans, including Republican members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, for enabling President Trump’s erratic tariffs and trade wars by repeatedly doing nothing as President Trump unilaterally attempted to implement illegal tariffs and intentionally blocking efforts in Congress aimed at ending the tariffs. As a result of Republicans’ actions—or lack thereof—a recently released report found that since January 2025, tariffs have cost Wisconsin an estimated $5.5 billion, amounting to roughly $2,179 per Wisconsin household.  

The latest escalation in President Trump’s ongoing trade spats with several countries and on-again-off-again tariffs also comes as the president announced he would be allowing foreign beef imports, drawing ire from American ranchers. The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, representing more than 175,000 cattle producers and feeders, excoriated the Trump Administration: “You don’t put America first by putting U.S. cattle producers last,” USCA President Justin Tupper said.  

In March, Gov. Evers announced that Wisconsin joined a multi-state lawsuit against President Trump’s action to impose burdensome, ten percent tariffs on certain imported goods after the U.S. Supreme Court found some of the president’s previously issued tariff taxes unconstitutional, opining that the tariffs exceeded powers granted to the president by the U.S. Congress. 

EFFORTS BY THE EVERS ADMINISTRATION TO BOLSTER WISCONSIN’S AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY 

Gov. Evers has long advocated for strategic investments in Wisconsin’s agricultural exports, starting in his 2019-21 biennial budget when he proposed a $200,000 investment to develop the Wisconsin Initiative for Dairy Exports. Unfortunately, that provision was rejected by the Legislature during the budget process. Following this, during his 2020 State of the State Address, the governor announced a package of legislation and a special session of the Legislature as part of a three-pronged plan to support and invest in Wisconsin’s farmers and rural communities. 

After the Legislature failed to pass Gov. Evers’ special session proposal, the governor again proposed investing in Wisconsin’s agriculture exports in his 2021-23 biennial budget. The 2021-23 budget marked the first time that state funding had been allocated to DATCP’s International Agribusiness Center to help promote Wisconsin agriculture exports. 2021 Wisconsin Act 92 later provided metrics for this investment.  

In collaboration with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), DATCP submitted a strategic five-year plan for the funding, named the Wisconsin Initiative for Agricultural Exports (WIAE), to the Wisconsin State Legislature on Dec. 31, 2021. This initiative aims to boost the export of dairy, meat, crop, and other agricultural products by 25 percent and allows DATCP to have flexibility to respond and react to changing market conditions. Under Gov. Evers’ leadership, the WIAE has helped raise Wisconsin’s national standing in agricultural exports from 13th to 10th in the years since its creation. In his latest budget, the governor secured ongoing funding for this essential program. More information on the WIAE is available on DATCP’s website.

Over his tenure, Gov. Evers has secured critical investments for farmers, producers, and their families, including supporting the state’s meat and dairy producers, investing in farmer mental health resources, and bolstering Wisconsin’s exports worldwide. Gov. Evers recognizes that Wisconsin’s over $116 billion agricultural industry is as critical to the state economy as it is to Wisconsin’s heritage and culture, and ensuring its continued growth and success for generations to come will be critical to Wisconsin’s continued growth and success. 

In his most recent biennial budget, which the governor signed into law last year, Gov. Evers built upon efforts of the Evers Administration to date to support Wisconsin’s agricultural industry and proud heritage as “America’s Dairyland.” In addition to funding to continue the WIAE, thanks to Gov. Evers’ advocacy, the 2025-27 Biennial Budget provides: 

  • $150 million to continue support for the Agricultural Roads Improvement Program, created by Gov. Evers in the 2023-25 biennium, ensuring the ongoing improvement of Wisconsin’s rural roads to help farmers and producers and the state’s agricultural and forestry industries move products to market safely and efficiently;  
    • $30 million of the $150 million secured for ARIP will be specifically targeted to bridge and culvert repair to help improve and repair deteriorating bridges across the state. 
  • $20 million to create a new state program designed to support dairy and agriculture resilience; 
  • $10 million to continue the Food Security Initiative, a program created by Gov. Evers that connects local nonprofit food assistance programs, such as food pantries, with local producers to keep shelves stocked; 
  • $3 million to continue the Tribal Elder Food Security program that helps Tribal elders access nutritious, culturally relevant food while supporting Wisconsin producers; 
  • $800,000 to increase the available funding for the successful Dairy Processor Grant Program; 
  • $1 million to bolster and support the Meat Processor Grant Program; 
  • Over $2.4 million over the biennium for the Meat Inspection Program to ensure meat products are produced safely and match nutrition labels; 
  • $200,000 to support farmers and their families’ mental health; 
  • $500,000 to increase funding for the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program, which helps enable producers and producer-led groups to implement nonpoint source pollution abatement strategies to improve Wisconsin’s soil and water quality; 
  • $2 million to continue the commercial Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Program, which aims to protect vital soil and water resources; and 
  • An additional $1.6 million to support the cover crop insurance program, which helps assist farmers with rebates of $5 per acre of a cover crop planted for crop insurance premiums paid on those acres.   
 
An online version of this release is available here.
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