# Agriculture in Wisconsin

Agriculture is a significant sector in Wisconsin's economy, producing nearly $104 billion in revenue annually. The significance of the state's agricultural production is exemplified by the depiction of a Holstein cow, an ear of corn, and a wheel of cheese on Wisconsin's state quarter design. In 2017 there were 64,800 farms in the state, operating across 14.3 million acres of land.

## Overview

The climate and topography of Wisconsin is favorable to both arable crops and livestock grazing. Wisconsin's soil was ground up over thousand of years during the Wisconsin glaciation, creating soil that is good for crops. The state has a short growing season, but lacks much of the natural disasters that threaten crops. Wisconsin's winters allow cool weather crops to be grown, including potatoes and cranberries. Corn and soybeans, warm weather crops, can still grow well during the summers. The rain in the north and west ranges from 30 inches (760 mm) to 34 inches (860 mm), and drops to 28 inches (710 mm) in the area around Lake Superior.

## Leading products

Wisconsin leads the United States in the production of corn for silage, cranberries, ginseng, and snap beans for processing. The state grows more than half the national crop of cranberries, and 97% of the nation's ginseng. Wisconsin is also a leading producer of oats, potatoes, carrots, tart cherries, maple syrup, and sweet corn for processing.

### Dairy

Wisconsin produces about a quarter of America's cheese, leading the nation in cheese production. It is second in milk production, after California, and third in per-capita milk production, behind California and Vermont. Wisconsin is second in butter production, producing about one-quarter of the nation's butter.

## History

According to Jerry Apps, the main themes of the history of agriculture in the state included environmental preconditions; the Native American experience, the original Yankee settlers; the rise and fall of wheat; the role of railroads; relation of rural and urban trends; the lead mining industry; lumbering; early mechanization; German, Swiss and Scandinavian immigration; the growth of cities; farmers in local and state government and politics; rural schools; transition to crop agriculture; the cheese and dairy industry; farming as a business; the Wisconsin idea; the College of Agriculture outreach programs; automobiles and good roads; tractors replace horses; arrival of rural free delivery, electricity and telephone; livestock raising; cranberry growing; federal controls and subsidies; truck farming; irrigation; consolidation into mega farms; the farm crisis of the 1980s; environmental degradation and recovery; and the impact of high tech.

### To 1860s

The indigenous people of Wisconsin farmed a variety of vegetables and maize. The Oneota were the first people to farm intensively, around the Mississippi River. In the year 1000, the Oneota, much like other Native Americans, were farming the Three Sisters—maize, beans, and squash. Aztalan State Park is the location of one of the farming towns built at this time. The Aztalan population reached several thousand; it was abandoned after 1300 AD.
Wisconsin was a frontier to many people in the Northeastern states—offering lots of fresh land for cheap. In the mid-19th century, Wisconsin's population increased from 11,683 in 1836, to 210,546 in 1848; the great majority were farmers. Prior to this influx of settlers, farms in Wisconsin mainly produced wheat; it was milled into flour and shipped to eastern states. At this time, Wisconsin was producing about a sixth of the wheat grown in the country. However, this production could not last due to the worsening of the soil and chinch bugs. The Wisconsin wheat farmers abandoned the crop and turned to raising dairy cattle and growing feed crops.
In the second half of the 19th century, commercial fruit production began in Door County, Wisconsin.

### Rise of dairy farming

The early settlers brought their knowledge of the dairy industry with them, realizing the potential of Wisconsin as good farmland. Many of these settlers were from New York, which was the highest producer of dairy products at the time. Additionally, cheesemaking was brought to Wisconsin by the German, Swiss and Scandinavian immigrants after 1850.
Wheat farming had been the dominant agricultural activity in Wisconsin in the mid-19th century, but farmers began transitioning to dairy farming as an alternative to crop in the 1850s. The reasons included challenges like soil depletion, pest infestations, the rise of urban markets for fresh milk and the growth of the demand for cheese. The number of dairy cows in Wisconsin increased rapidly, from 245,000 in 1867 to over 2 million by 1925. Wisconsin became the leading dairy state, producing nearly half the nation's cheese and a tenth of its butter by 1907. The University of Wisconsin played a key role in supporting the dairy industry through scientific research, such as Professor Stephen Babcock's development of the butterfat test, and by providing education to farmers on dairy farming methods. Industry groups like the Wisconsin Dairyman's Association were formed in the 1870s to promote cheese production, share new dairying techniques, and overcome opposition to the cheese industry. Influence of immigrant farmers: German and Scandinavian immigrant families helped to grow the Wisconsin's dairy industry by their adapting to dairying and creating European-style cheeses. While dairy farming was initially dominated by family-owned farms, the introduction of automated milking systems and "factory-farms" with hundreds of cows led to the decline of smaller operations.
Dairy farming were at first dominated by family-owned farms. However since the late 20th century the introduction of automated milking systems and "factory-farms" with hundreds of cows has led to the decline of smaller operations.

### Cranberries

In the northern region of the state, farmers in the late 19th century began growing cranberries. The crop is well suited to Wisconsin—not needing hot temperatures, growing in marshlands, and resistant to the extreme cold. Cranberries need little care, and are easy to grow.
Today Wisconsin produces 60% of America's cranberries. In 2016, the state grew 6.13 million barrels of cranberries from over 20,000 acres of cranberry fields.

### Cutover district

The white pine forests in 18 northern Wisconsin counties were the center of the American lumber industry in the mid-19th century. Dozens of towns began as sawmill centers, including Marinette, Oconto, Green Bay, Wausau, Stevens Point, Grand Rapids, Merrill, Black River Falls, Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, La Crosse, and Ashland. However, by the 1890s, intensive operations removed all the good trees, but left behind a mass of lumbering debris and tree stumps. It was called "the cutover district." The land was sold cheap to farmers. They tried to redeem it as farming land. They did well for a while when prices were high, but prices fell in the 1920s and 1930s and they lost money. The New Deal (1933-1940) sustained many cutover farmers during the Depression, but by the 1950s most farmers gave up and moved out.

## Effects of climate change

The multibillion-dollar dairy business in Wisconsin, which provides more than half of the state's agriculture revenue, may suffer as a result of the changing environment. Cows consume less and make less milk when the temperature rises. Crops may face obstacles as a result of climate change, but it may also help them in certain ways; the overall effect is unknown. Longer frost-free growing seasons and increased CO$_2$ concentrations in the atmosphere would boost soybean and wheat harvests in an average year. Summers that are becoming increasingly hot are expected to lower maize yields. Much of Wisconsin will likely experience 5 to 10 more days per year with temperatures exceeding 95 °F in 70 years than it does now. Crop output would also be harmed by more severe droughts or floods.
Much like Wisconsin's tourism industry, agriculture also relies on predictable seasonal changes. Because of climate change, Wisconsin's seasonal cycles are becoming more and more unpredictable. The livelihoods of Wisconsin farmers are affected by the unpredictable weather changes every day. In addition to the livelihoods of farmers being affected by climate change in Wisconsin, the increased temperatures and precipitation threaten food security. Although a longer growing season sounds beneficial to food security, in reality, the warmer temperatures and increased precipitation are stressful to crops and animals.
Planting and harvesting crops will prove to be much more challenging due to the increase in precipitation. Soil erosion will increase and lead to larger amounts of polluted runoff. Polluted runoff could then in turn affect the water quality much like flooding and harm living beings.