Sustainable Farming

Wisconsin Dairy Farmers

Committed to their Community

Dairy farmers have been committed to sustainability for as long as they’ve been farming. Learn how Wisconsin dairy farmers care for their land, water and local communities, ensuring their health for future generations.

Pagel's Ponderosa Dairy

Farming is a labor of love for Jamie Pagel Witcpalek and her family. The care of the land and animals, and the family tradition of dairy farming is something they will pass on to the future generations.

Learn About Their Story

Feltz Family Farms

The Feltz family and their neighbors work to improve the quantity and quality of the Little Plover River for farmers and the local community to enjoy.

Learn About the Feltz Family

Heller Farms

Wisconsin dairy farming has changed from generation to generation. For Cody Heller, that means doing a better job producing food not only in Wisconsin, but throughout the nation and beyond.

Watch the Heller's Redefining Dairy

What is Environmental Stewardship?

Environmental stewardship has a lot of definitions, all of which are essential for the farm business to truly thrive. One that is particularly near and dear to all dairy farmers is having a commitment to our planet. Wisconsin dairy farmers have a long history of protecting their land and water for the future of their families, farms and communities. After all, without acting as environmental stewards, how would a dairy farm family preserve their land for future generations?

Our dairy farm families are committed to sustaining and preserving the environment by finding new and better ways to care for and manage land and water resources. For example, Wisconsin has over 28 dairy-farmer-led watershed groups that protect hundreds of thousands acres of land and water. Our farmers continue to innovate in their sustainable farming practices to keep it that way.

Today's Farms

Producing a gallon of milk releases 19% less greenhouse gas emissions than it did in 2007. That’s equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere by half a million acres of U.S. forests every year. And they’re invested in our future – U.S. dairy farmers are committed to reducing their carbon footprint even further as part of the dairy industry’s initiative to become carbon neutral or better by 2050.

Dairy and Sustainability

Carbon Neutral by 2050

Learn More

Wisconsin Cow Power

A leader in the production of bio-energy, Wisconsin has more on-farm bio-energy systems than any other state. What's a bio-energy system? It's designed to convert manure into renewable energy, powering more than 7,500 homes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

CONSERVATION EFFORTS

Wisconsin is home to several farmer-led conservation programs, such as UW-Discovery Farms, that look to solve environmental challenges and improve farming practices. Researching Wisconsin's diverse agricultural landscape, UW-Discovery Farms uses working farms that are facing various environmental challenges. The program takes a real-world approach to finding innovative ways to safeguard our land and water resources.

Check Out Their On-Farm Projects