Cultivating a path forward for Wisconsin agriculture
Wisconsin has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50-55% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, but our agricultural systems, policies and supply-cain infrastructure aren’t aligned to get us there.
The Natural Climate Solutions Roadmap to Net-Zero by 2050 for WI Agriculture Project aims to cultivate support for natural climate solutions that will not only help Wisconsin reach its ambitious climate goals, but also forge a new path forward for our state’s agricultural sector.
The core of the NCS Roadmap to Net-Zero project is a greenhouse gas analysis report that will quantify how effective land-management practices are at both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and capturing and sequestering greenhouse gases.
Once finished, the report and a tool for analyzing the greenhouse gas reduction potential of land management and production practices will help guide Wisconsin’s agricultural sector toward its net-zero goals and pave the way for similar efforts around the country.
Wisconsin has set ambitious climate goals, but the state’s agricultural sector, which has seen a 23% rise in emissions since 2005, is not yet equipped to meet these targets. To succeed, Wisconsin’s farming practices must rapidly evolve to capture more carbon dioxide than they emit.
The supply chain hub project is addressing key bottlenecks in Wisconsin’s supply of Kernza, a perennial row crop which has roots that remain deep in the soil year-round. This project involves facilitating the development of a WI-based supply-chain and markets, connecting local growers directly to processors, distributors and WI brewers, bakers, and livestock producers.
We’ve already seen changes to our climate in Wisconsin, and that means changes to where crops are able to grow. This project is providing crop suitability maps under both current and future climate conditions, to illustrate how climate change will impact commodities and to help farmers make informed choices on what tree crops will thrive under future climate conditions in our state, ensuring rural resiliency and a vibrant rural economy.
Northeast Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan Basin is an area with a high density of concentrated animal farming operations and dangerously poor water quality. This project will establish a locally-led learning hub in response to the renewed interest in dairy heifer grazing and how managed grazing for beef and dairy can boost farm profits, improve water quality, and reduce emissions.
The NCS Roadmap to Net-Zero for WI Agriculture Project is a two-year collaboration between Clean Wisconsin, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, Savanna Institute and UW–Grassland 2.0, and is structured as one large initiative with three smaller pilot projects.
