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Protecting Wisconsin’s farms
and forests is critically important to those who work the land.
• Conversion
of farmland to other uses and fragmentation of forests has occurred
at an unprecedented rate, endangering the future of these two key
economic sectors in Wisconsin.
• Mixed uses on traditional
working lands create conflicts among residents. It threatens necessary
contiguous working land tracts and related business infrastructure
needed for thriving agriculture and forestry business clusters.
• Farmland
protection strategies provide certainty for farmers as they seek
to sustain their operations and plan for the future. A farmer’s
land is often his or her retirement account. They need options
for how to tap into that account while preserving its principle.
• Lenders,
agribusinesses and other “farmer partners” are more
willing to invest in the future of agriculture if the risk of conversion
to other uses is minimized. Farmland protection strategies boost
community and economic development in rural areas and preserve
natural resources for future generations of farmers.
• Wisconsin
needs more new farmers in order for agriculture to prosper. Opportunities
for the next generation of farmers depend on the availability of
adequate land resources. The diversity of Wisconsin’s agriculture
is a major strength, but it requires an ongoing infusion of new
farmers and new ideas.
• Protecting Wisconsin’s working
family forests is crucial to the forest-products industry and provides
an array of related services, from wildlife habitat, recreation
and tourism to air and water quality.
• The emerging renewable
energy and bio-technology economies offer new opportunities for
Wisconsin’s farms and forests and those who tend them. Our
working lands are of strategic importance to the state and nation.
We can’t afford to lose them.
• Wisconsin’s rich
rural traditions are our heritage and our future. We need to preserve
them and offer opportunities for future generations to enjoy their
many benefits.
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