March 13, 2026
By TIM HUNDT
VIROQUA Wis. – Vernon County is launching a new agricultural incentive program that will pay local farmers to plant perennial buffer strips along their fields in an effort to combat soil erosion and protect groundwater.
The Conservation and Education Committee unanimously approved the guidelines for the new cost share program during its March 12 meeting. The initiative aims to convert sections of traditional row crops into deep rooted perennial grasses and alfalfa particularly in areas prone to heavy runoff.
County Conservationist David Hettenbach presented the finalized program details to the committee. He explained that the county will utilize $20,000 dollars in Ho Chunk Nation grant funds combined with $10,000 dollars from the land and water department non-lapsing funds to create a $30,000 dollar pilot program.
The program will offer farmers a three year contract paying $190 dollars per acre per year for alfalfa seeding and $210 dollars per acre per year for cool season grasses. The county will also cover half of the initial seed costs up to $150 dollars per acre.
“We’d be looking for folks with a good amount of acreage,” said Hettenbach.
Hettenbach originally pitched the framework for the program during the February 12 committee meeting where he emphasized that the loss of contour strips in modern cash crop farming is a major environmental concern.
“I think the biggest conservation related problems with agriculture as far as cash cropping and things like that is the loss of contour strips,” said Hettenbach during the February meeting. “Phosphorus sediment runoff is greatly reduced with putting not much of your acreage into something, prairie is ideal.”
Because the funding pool is relatively small Hettenbach noted in February that the initial rollout will likely only cover 50 to 75 acres countywide. The goal is to gauge interest and prove the concept works before seeking larger grants.
During the March meeting Hettenbach stressed that farmers who plant alfalfa strips will still be allowed to harvest the crop ensuring they do not lose all productive value from that land. Payments will be issued annually on October 1 after county staff verify the perennial cover was maintained throughout the growing season.
“We felt like this is a way for producers to get a pretty good rent payment, and it’s consistent, and it would be for three years,” said Hettenbach.
Supervisor Nathaniel Slack raised logistical concerns regarding how the county would handle situations where a farmer rents the land they are working rather than owning it.
“How are we making a distinction between like a landowner and a land renter,” asked Slack. “If I am 40 acres I enroll this in the program at $190 bucks an acre, and then I go and rent that same hay ground out to a neighbor for $150. I can see some double dipping going on there.”
Hettenbach agreed that the application process needs to be carefully monitored and assured the committee that county staff will directly contact property owners if a renter attempts to enroll a parcel.
“We obviously wouldn’t want someone who is renting land to put land into a program and not have the landowner be aware of it,” said Hettenbach. “If you were to come in and you’re renting land from someone, we would call them and say hey, you know that Nathaniel is putting this in this program. Just to make sure everything was clear.”
Slack also asked what would happen if a farmer breaks the three year contract early to plant corn or soybeans instead. Hettenbach clarified that participants can terminate the agreement at any time but they simply will not receive their October payment for that year.
Supervisor Mary Henry strongly supported the program noting that keeping nitrogen out of the local water supply is a critical priority for the county.
“Our biggest threat to that resource is nitrogen and they talked about the contamination of wells when they’re doing their well testing,” said Henry. “When it starts approaching five (parts per million) then they have to start looking at, we need to do something different here.”
Henry suggested that once the pilot program is established the county should aggressively seek partnerships with local conservation nonprofits to increase the available funding pool and enroll more farmers.
Hettenbach agreed with Henry noting that the county intends to actively market the program to local watershed groups in the coming months. He also noted the program will tie in perfectly with a current University of Wisconsin project that is placing edge of field runoff monitors on local farms to measure exactly how much soil and water is being saved.
The committee unanimously approved the program guidelines allowing the land and water department to begin enrolling interested farmers.
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