Advocating For Farmer-Led
Water Quality Initiatives.

Feeding America’s families.
Protecting our water.

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Producer Led Watershed Protection Panel Discussion

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Growers Describe Value of Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program

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Dan Walsch (left), Agronomist at Plover River Farms Alliance, Stevens Point, describes interseeding practices in a corn field as part of a Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant program tour of the farm on July 30.

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Isaac Isherwood (third from right) of Isherwood Farms, Plover, discusses the farm’s Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Project aimed at preventing the leaching of nitrogen into groundwater. There was an excellent turnout at the Producer Led Field Day, with over 25 individuals attending.

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UW-Extension Regional Crops Educator Natasha Paris (right) describes a field trial at Coloma Farms as part of a Producer Led Watershed Protection Grant Field Day hosted by the Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri on August 30. The trial plot includes rye and mustard cover crops interseeded into potatoes in an effort to reduce nitrate leaching.

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Andy Diercks (fifth from left) of Coloma Farms fielded questions from attendees at the Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri Producer Led Field Day. In addition to interseeding cover crops with potatoes to reduce nitrate leaching, the trial aims to determine if removing aboveground biomass can reduce leaching and if biochar can be made from potato vines.

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Members of the Producer Led Watershed Protection Group known as the Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative met at Gagas Farms on March 28 for a tour of wetlands on the farm.  Pictured are (L-R) Randy Fleishauer of Plover River Farms, Casey Kristof of Specialty Potatoes, Mark Gagas of Gagas Farms, Mike Firkus of Firkus Farms, Curtis Gagas of Gagas Farms, Tracy Hames of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and Dan Walsch of Plover River Farms.  Farm fields surround the wetlands shown here in Rosholt, providing habitat for ducks, geese, sandhill cranes, beavers and other wildlife.  WPVGA Executive Director Tamas Houlihan joined the tour and took the photo.

Committed to Clean Water

Our industry is one of traditions, and it’s also one of innovation and ingenuity. Our great grandfathers were crystal clear in their agricultural beliefs: “protect the land and protect the water for without both of them, your life as a farmer will be forever forgotten.” That directive is handed down from one generation to the next.

Each day, farmers are leading efforts to preserve our state’s natural resources. We have researched, we have tested, and we have implemented water conservation programs and practices. This makes our farmers some of the most widely-admired conservationists, and our farms some of the most sustainable, in the agricultural community.

Voluntary conservation practices, groundwater monitoring, state-of-the-art technology, and applied research are the focal points of Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association’s efforts. We are committed to doing our part to preserve and protect our state’s water resources for current and future generations.

The commitment to our mission includes direct conversations and testimony to legislative leaders in support of key legislation that will help ensure clean water for all Wisconsinites.

Click here to read our testimony at a hearing in Madison in support of bills that improve water quality.

Press Release on Farmer-Led Conservation Support Bill Signed by Governor Evers

Press Release on the World Potato Congress Industry Awards presented to Dr. John J. Burke, Richard W. “Dick” Okray, Paul C. Struik and Antoon Wallays for their long and distinctive work in the international potato industry.

Members of four central Wisconsin Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant groups participated in a panel discussion at the Central Wisconsin Farm Profitability Expo held March 22 in Wisconsin Rapids. Pictured are: (L-R) Matt Hintz of the Farmers for Tomorrow River, Jeff Boyd of Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri, Ken Feltz of the Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative, and Colten Weiler of the Eau Plaine Partnership for Integrated Conservation. Each talked about practices they are using to improve the watersheds in which they farm.

Several potato and vegetable growers recently participated in a panel discussion on the value of the Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program offered by the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture. Pictured are (L-R) Andy Diercks of Coloma Farms (Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri); Tom Schultz of Heartland Farms (Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri); Randy Fleishauer of Plover River Farms (Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative); Anna James, Natural Resources Educator with UW-Extension (Moderator); Curt Soik of Myron Soik & Sons (Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative); and Tracy Hames, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association (Moderator). The panel discussion took place in February of 2023 as part of the WPVGA Grower Education Conference held in Stevens Point. The growers explained how the Producer-Led program has fostered the sharing of ideas and improved conservation practices on farms in central Wisconsin.

WPVGA Farms Continue to Improve Watersheds with Producer-Led Grants

Eight WPVGA-member farms in central Wisconsin are working together on a Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant project to protect the watershed that includes the Little Plover River and a portion of the Wisconsin River. This group includes lead farm Plover River Farms, along with Feltz Family Farms, Firkus Farms, Gagas Farms, Hamerski Farms, Myron Soik & Sons, Okray Family Farms and Worzella & Sons. With matching funds from the WPVGA and working closely with UW Extension and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, the group was successful in securing a fifth year of funding from the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection following successful conservation work in 2024.

Conservation practices employed by the group include the extensive use of cover crops, prairie and pollinator plantings, and no-till/minimum till practices. There were also extensive wetlands restoration practices employed in this watershed.

An additional Producer-Led group received its third round of grant funding in 2024 in the Central Sands: Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri. This Producer-Led group has WPVGA members representing Coloma Farms, Signature Farms, Heartland Farms, Nathan Bula Farms, Sterling Farms and Flyte Family Farms.

The WPVGA is proud to announce two more Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant groups that were approved in December of 2024 and will begin work in 2025. A group from Antigo led by James Spychalla of Kohm-Spychalla LLC includes WPVGA members: Guenthner Farms, Guenthner Potato Company, Hyland Lakes Spuds, J.W. Mattek & Sons, Kakes Farms, Schroeder Bros. Farms, Sunnydale Farms and Wild Seed Farms. Also, a group from the 14-mile watershed was approved, and this group includes WPVGA members Heartland Farms, Bula Land Company, K & A Farms (Kiley Stucker) and Woyak Farms.

Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative Hosts Producer-Led Field Day

The Central Wisconsin Farmers Collaborative, a group of eight WPVGA-member farms in the Little Plover River/Wisconsin River Watershed, hosted a field day on July 30, in conjunction with DATCP specialists. The Field Day included stops at Plover River Farms and Isherwood Farms to view on-farm practices designed to protect the watershed. Dan Walsch, Agronomist at Plover River Farms, described several initiatives including: potato and sweet corn interseeding; planting green into living rye with sweet corn; companion cropping clover and sweet corn; and the use of pollinator plantings. The Field Day also included a stop at Isherwood Farms in Plover to view their Nitrogen Optimization Pilot Project which involves using humic acid to prevent leaching.

Join Us

We’re committed to protecting Wisconsin’s water resources. Add your name to the growing list of farmers, ag leaders, and citizens working to ensure a healthy freshwater future across the state. Your help makes a difference!

Initiatives to Enhance and Protect Our Water

WPVGA is proud to be part of a series of initiatives that work toward sustainable groundwater quantity and quality. These efforts evaluate and implement strategies to increase the efficiency of irrigation and crop production, while conserving the amount of water used and maintaining or improving water quality.

Irrigation and Conservation Practices

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The Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project

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Producer-Led Watershed Protection

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A Commitment to New Approaches and Technologies

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Agricultural Water Use in Central Wisconsin

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Feeding America and Wisconsin’s Economy

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Irrigation and Conservation Practices

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The future of our irrigated vegetable industry is ultimately dependent on our ability to balance the long term conservation of our water resources with the continuing productivity that is needed for economic survival. Increasing the efficiency of our irrigation practices and adopting conservation practices that use less water are key components to achieving this balance. Wisconsin farmers are experts on the complexities of the water cycle, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration (ET). That understanding is crucial to growing their crops and getting the highest yield with the least input of water and fertilizer.

Wisconsin potato growers have funded – and continue to fund on an ongoing basis – research projects aimed at enhanced conservation practices. We’ve worked closely in collaboration with UW scientists in the evaluation of deferred and deficit irrigation methods to conserve water. Deferred and deficit irrigation involve optimization strategies whereby irrigation water is applied during drought-sensitive growth stages of a crop. Among the useful results, deficit irrigation was effective in conserving water and had less than a 5% yield impact on corn production.

Low pressure irrigation systems are now the norm, using much less energy and less water than in the past. Drop nozzles are also used extensively, allowing the water to be applied closer to the ground, reducing the amount of evaporation that can take place.

Wisconsin’s potato growers routinely take petiole samples throughout the growing season to fine-tune their nutrient management programs. Petiole analysis is an important technique for diagnosing or predicting nutrient deficiencies in potatoes. It can also be used to monitor a fertilizer program and determine if adjustments to the program are required. Growers collect the youngest mature potato leaf from each of 20 to 30 plants in a systematic pattern across the crop area to be tested. Information is provided on the concentration of macro- and micro-nutrients in the petioles. This can be used to correct nutrient-related problems in the crop. Growers have also adopted spoon-feeding techniques, to apply multiple small applications of nutrients in accordance with the petiole readings and based on crop needs.

Add in a sophisticated watering schedule that utilizes soil moisture testing and computerized irrigation systems, and you have high-tech farms making wise use of water. Using grower-funded and research-based irrigation scheduling programs, a grower can use a soil probe to test the moisture of the soil and then use computer software to calculate what the crop needs. If it begins to rain during irrigation, the system is designed to pump only until a combination of rain and irrigation reaches that calculated crop need. Many irrigation systems can even predict the weather, and the system will not irrigate if the forecast exceeds the crop needs.

The Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project

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The Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project is a multi-party effort convened by the Village of Plover and the WPVGA – with the goal of improving the health of the Little Plover River and the quality of life of the surrounding area. Restoring the health of the river requires an array of on-the-ground practices and voluntary landowner participation, and WPVGA is committed to utilizing protection, restoration and management practices to ensure the project’s long-term success.

The Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, Portage County Land and Water Conservation Division, and Wisconsin DNR make up the core team of project advisors. Project components include: water conservation and management; wetland restoration and drainage management; and farming conservation practices that include cover crops and precision nutrient application. Since the project started in 2017, the Little Plover River has been consistently flowing above the minimum 4cfs (cubic feet per second) rate as set by the DNR as the public rights stage.

The Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project has been a resounding success and a shining example of how collaboration can produce positive results for all stakeholders.

This following video highlights a wetland restoration project within the Little Plover River Watershed:


Click here to learn more about the Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project.

WPVGA Farms Continue to Improve Watersheds with Producer-Led Grants

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Eight WPVGA-member farms in central Wisconsin are working together on a Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant project to protect the watershed that includes the Little Plover River and a portion of the Wisconsin River. This group includes lead farm Plover River Farms, along with Feltz Family Farms, Firkus Farms, Gagas Farms, Hamerski Farms, Myron Soik & Sons, Okray Family Farms and Worzella & Sons. With matching funds from the WPVGA and working closely with UW Extension and the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, the group was successful in securing a fifth year of funding from the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection following successful conservation work in 2024.

Conservation practices employed by the group include the extensive use of cover crops, prairie and pollinator plantings, and no-till/minimum till practices. There were also extensive wetlands restoration practices employed in this watershed.

An additional Producer-Led group received its third round of grant funding in 2024 in the Central Sands: Farmers of the Roche-A-Cri. This Producer-Led group has WPVGA members representing Coloma Farms, Signature Farms, Heartland Farms, Nathan Bula Farms, Sterling Farms and Flyte Family Farms.

The WPVGA is proud to announce two more Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant groups that were approved in December of 2024 and will begin work in 2025. A group from Antigo led by James Spychalla of Kohm-Spychalla LLC includes WPVGA members: Guenthner Farms, Guenthner Potato Company, Hyland Lakes Spuds, J.W. Mattek & Sons, Kakes Farms, Schroeder Bros. Farms, Sunnydale Farms and Wild Seed Farms. Also, a group from the 14-mile watershed was approved, and this group includes WPVGA members Heartland Farms, Bula Land Company, K & A Farms (Kiley Stucker) and Woyak Farms.

A Commitment to New Approaches and Technologies

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WPVGA is proud to utilize the latest technologies and systems that are environmentally friendly and protect our clean waters.

WPVGA has an ongoing collaboration on a research project with the UW Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department looking at newer, more accurate and advanced methods of measuring evapotranspiration (ET). This project is being led by Dr. Ankur Desai and uses the latest technology of an eddy covariance flux tower system to measure ET in an irrigated vegetable field as well as using another flux tower system to measure ET in a nearby forest. Research results are being shared with growers to assist them in their irrigation management and scheduling regimes. Three years of data show that the ET rates are higher (reflecting greater water use) in the pine forest than the irrigated vegetable field. The DNR also used information from the Desai lab to accomplish tasks related to the lakes study component of 2017 Wisconsin Act 10. An additional study will take place this summer using eddy covariance flux towers to calculate ET values in non-irrigated corn fields.

The WPVGA continues to collaborate with the University of Wisconsin and the DNR on a new initiative to recognize and reward water conservation. The Wisconsin Water Stewards Program establishes a baseline of water stewardship practices and assists growers in making continuous improvements in the area of water conservation. Growers have access to a broad range of expertise to help determine the best way to manage and conserve water resources on their individual farms. This has also become a component of the WPVGA’s high-bar sustainability program known as Healthy Grown.

We’ve also helped with funding software maintenance to keep the Wisconsin Irrigation Scheduling Program (WISP) and the Agricultural Weather Data Service operational. Work is being conducted at the UW Biological Systems Engineering Dept. The existing WISP software tracks a daily soil water balance to assist growers with irrigation water management.

Agricultural Water Use in Central Wisconsin

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The WPVGA is proud to bring together the people, organizations and expertise needed to foster the sustainable use of water resources. It is an example of collaboration involving state agencies, University of Wisconsin research scientists and the agriculture industry.

Central Sands Lakes Study

The WPVGA supports the concept of empowering farmers and community stakeholders to develop a cooperative plan to manage groundwater in the Central Sands region. WPVGA appreciates that the DNR has committed to identifying impacted resources and “envision[s] a flexible, economically reasonable and science-based approach” to Central Sands groundwater management.

A key point in the DNR’s study, "found that precipitation is the primary factor affecting lake level fluctuations." In an average year, the Central Sands gets over 32 inches of precipitation, and even the highest-use vegetable crop only uses about 22 inches of water. Accordingly, the vast majority of the time, agricultural irrigation will not have an adverse effect on lake levels.

All of the lakes in the study are currently at historically high water levels. Long Lake, which shows the most susceptibility to the effects of irrigation, is over four feet above the historical average and it would take several years of continually dry conditions before the lake level would fall back to even average levels.

Report from Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology

In an interesting report, Paul Fowler, from the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology at UW-Stevens Point, studied the agricultural water use in central Wisconsin. He found that while use of water for agricultural purposes has increased over the last several decades, it may not be the cause of groundwater level fluctuation.

Read the full report here.

Feeding America and Wisconsin’s Economy

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Wisconsin’s irrigated agriculture industry, which is a national leader in processed vegetables and ranks 3rd in potato production, is essential to the state’s economy. Specialty crop production in Wisconsin is valued at over $1 billion annually with an additional $5 billion value and 35,000 jobs estimated from economic activity associated with the food processing industry. That’s no small potatoes!

The Central Sands area is one of the most critical irrigated agricultural areas in the US and, since it is wholly dependent on groundwater, any disruption in the aquifer is of critical concern to the country’s food security. The WPVGA will continue to work diligently with all concerned parties to develop long-term, sustainable approaches to water use that will benefit everyone.

Contact Us

Have an idea you want to share? Know someone going the extra mile to protect our state’s waters? Drop us a line using the form below. We’d like to connect with you!