GOP lawmakers are circulating a bill to establish a dairy farm innovation program, which would offer no-interest loans to qualifying milk producers.
Sen. Rob Stafsholt of New Richmond and Rep. Clint Moses of Menomonie on Friday sent a cosponsorship memo to other lawmakers detailing the bill. The noted dairy farms in the state are struggling to find workers, limiting their competitiveness, but advancements in technology have enabled greater farm efficiency.
At the same time, they say consumers are increasingly “concerned about animal welfare and sustainability of the products they purchase, making the improvements realized by modern milking systems increasingly important.”
Authors argue the bill will help address these issues for small and medium family farms through their proposed loan program, which would support investments in technology such as automated milking systems. They point to “significant economic, animal welfare, and environmental benefits” of this approach.
“These systems will create labor efficiency by utilizing advanced technology, and they will also improve animal welfare by reducing stress, preventing disease, and enabling a faster diagnosis when disease does occur,” authors wrote.
Under the bill, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. would offer no-interest loans to milk producers in the state with between 50 and 714 producing cows. To be eligible, applicants must not have been subject to any enforcement actions related to environmental, worker safety, food processing, or food safety laws within the past five years, or be in an open bankruptcy proceeding.
Applicants must also only employ workers that are legally authorized to work in the state, according to analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Loans received through the program could only be used to improve farm efficiency, animal health and related care, or milk quality; reduce environmental impacts related to the farm’s operation; or to rent or construct buildings or technology needed to expand production capacity or manure management.
WEDC would be directed to prioritize applications that would create new skilled jobs, improve milk production or manure management practices, reduce environmental impacts or improve labor efficiency.
The cosponsorship deadline is Friday.
