Some Wisconsin farmers are now able to see the environmental effects from their sustainable farming practices through a new conservation program that hopes to expand across the Midwest. Farmers for Sustainable Food recently wrapped up the inaugural year of its Climate Smart Program.
Lauren Brey, managing director of Farmers for Sustainable Food, said after one year, the farmers enrolled across four states reduced nearly 50,000 tons of CO2 equivalents.
"That's the kind of impact that we're seeing just on 53 farms," she said. "So we're really looking forward to years two and beyond when we'll have double, quadruple that number of farmers participating and data to share."
Through a partnership with Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative and a $50 million federal grant, participating farmers are compensated for their time and data sharing.
They also receive support to understand the metrics and outcomes of the conservation practices they're using on their farms -- like how the reductions of carbon dioxide equivalents being made from year one of the program are equivalent to powering more than 6,600 U.S. homes for one year - or removing more than 11,000 passenger vehicles from the road.
"What's cool about it is that farmers are already implementing best-management practices on their cropland, on their farms when they're caring for their animals... and now, through our project, we're able to help quantify what those best-management practices mean for environmental outcomes," Brey continued.
Year one encompassed more than 100,000 acres of cropland with the use of more than 71,000 cattle. The five-year project will continue through 2028, but Brey said they are already looking for additional funding to extend it and reach more farmers in the upper Midwest.
