Scott Walker's Plan: Agriculture

8/8/2019 Scott Walker's Plan: Agriculture

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DO YOU CARE ABOUT W ISCONSIN’S

A GRICULTURE

FUTURE?I D O TO O . T H I S I S M Y P L A N TO H E L P I T T H R I VE .

THE

W ALKER PLAN

TO HELP OUR

A GRICULTURE & D AIRY

INDUSTRY

Paid for by Friends of Scott Walker, John Hiller,Treasurer

P.O. Box 100828 • Wauwatosa,WI 53210

www.ScottWalker.orgFor more information or to volunteer:

(414) 453-2010 • [email protected]



Reclaiming the Title of America’s Dairyland

“Farming is not just Wisconsin’s most robust industry, it’s a way of life for families who farm. As a child in rural Wisconsin, I watched farm families work from dawn to dusk to produce the food we buy and the raw materials found in products we use every day. The agriculture industry is the largest contributor to Wisconsin’s economy and if it struggles, we all do. That’s why I will work to preserve Wisconsin as the home of the world’s best producers.”

-- Scott Walker

Wisc onsin’s ag ricultura l ind ustry contributes $59billion to o ur ec onom y eac h year and p rovides

more tha n 420,000 job s. A new fa rm job spurs thec rea tion of 1.3 jobs in other industries like foodproc essing and d istribution. Without a doubt,thriving fa rming op erations a re essent ia l to ahea lthy state ec onom y.

Yea r a fter year, our farme rs overcom e thec ha lleng es presented b y Mothe r Nature a nd thefed eral gove rnment and c onsistently p rod uc ehigh qua lity prod uc ts. It’ s c ritic a l to a ll of ourfamilies that Wisc onsin farme rs rem a in com pet itivein the grow ing g lob al econom y. It’s not enoug hfor Wisc onsin government to simp ly avo id erec tingreg ula tory roa db loc ks to suc c ess; we have toestablish policies that allow farmers to thrive.

Lowering Taxes on the Family Farm

Ove r 99% of Wisc onsin fa rms are fa mily ow ned and the future o f our sta te’ s ec onom ydep end s on keep ing this trad ition a live. Keep ing the fam ily in “ fam ily fa rm” me ansred uc ing the taxes and spend ing tha t pose a financ ia l threa t to o ur rura l c om munities.

My administra tion w ill c ond uc t a c omprehensive review of a ll tax polic y that impac tsfarme rs, elimina te ta x barriers to p rod uc tion, and rein in government spend ing so tha tfarme rs c an invest in the ir op erations instea d of send ing more money to the sta tetreasury.

I w ill a lso o ppose a ny effo rts to we aken Wisc onsin’s “ Use Va lue” law tha t ha s kep tprop erty taxes on farms in chec k and helped family fa rms stay in business.



Mak ing Government Acc ountab le to Farmers

While m ost of the a ttention for job c rea tion seems to foc us on the tec hnology sec torand ma nufac turing , Agric ulture rema ins Wisconsin’s top ec ono mic eng ine. We mustrefoc us gove rnment to be a resource for fa rmers, not simp ly a reg ula tor of them.

For Wisc onsin’s fa rmers, time is money. Tha t’ s why I believe gove rnment ha s aresponsibility to review permit ap p lica tions in a t ime ly ma nner. Right now, ga me s a rebeing p layed with permits and a ge nc ies a re d ragg ing the ir feet. We must reform theproc ess so agric ultura l job c rea tors c an p lan g row th a nd new hires with p red ic tab ility.My a dministra tion will support leg isla tion to req uire sta te a genc ies to review permitapp lic a tions within 60 days of rec eipt. If the ap p lic a tion is not a pprove d o r denied b ythe sta te a ge nc y within 180 da ys of rec eipt, the app lic a tion w ill be p resumedapproved.

My administra tion w illeliminate the “ gotc ha

mentality” o fgovernment regulatorsand c rea te a c ulturetha t respec ts andsup ports Wisc onsinfarmers. Regulationsand rules must b escience ba sed and bede velop ed inpartnership w ith the

agric ultura l c om munity.

My administra tion w illa lso p rote c t farmersfrom the d angerousfund ra ids of theprevious administration.

My a dministra tion w ill ensure tha t fund s c rea ted for spec ific purposes, suc h a s theAgric ultura l Chemica l Ma nage ment Fund a nd the Ag ric ultura l Chemica l CleanupProg ram, are not raided to p ay for othe r p rog rams.

Finally, the Dep artment of Natural Resource s impac ts fa rmers just as muc h as theDep artment of Ag ric ulture, Trade a nd Co nsumer Protec tion doe s. To e nsure fa rme rs a rea lwa ys rep resented a t the DNR, I will ensure tha t a t least one of the m em bers of theNatural Resources Board comes from an agricultural background.



Farming for the Nex t Generation

The fa c t tha t nea rly a ll of Wisc onsin fa rms a re fa mily-ow ned should be a source o f prideand we should strive to keep it tha t wa y. Unfortunately, the fed eral dea th tax lawpunishes fa rm fa milies when they ha nd dow n the b usiness from one g eneration to thenext. I sup port the e limina tion of the Dea th Tax and I will wo rk with mem bers of

Co ngress to end its c ripp ling effe c ts on Wisc onsin farme rs.

For dec ades, the University o f Wisc onsin has been a lea der in training farme rs anddevelop ing best p rac tice s. My a dministra tion will build on this history by strengtheningpub lic / p riva te partnerships tha t w ill inc orpora te 21st c entury innova tions into bestprac tic es standards to ensure tha t the next ge neration o f farme rs c an prod uc e evenmore than we d o now.

Throug h the use o f tec hnolog y, Wisc onsin’ s fame rs will be a b le to p rod uc e even mo reof the qua lity produc ts they are known for. To he lp fac ilita te this transition to the nextge neration of fa rming, I support tax inc entives a ime d a t mo dernizing the fa rms of today

so they c an c ompe te w ith the fa rms of tom orrow .

We must a lso c ontinue to invest in our sta te ’ s infrastruc ture to ensure farme rs c an movetheir p rod uc ts to market for yea rs to c om e. In the last eight years, Go v. Doyle ra ided$1.3 b illion from Wisc onsin’s Transporta tion Fund . This is money tha t c ould ha ve gone tofixing our sta te ’ s rural roads, highways and bridg es. I w ill p rotec t the Transporta tionFund b y end ing the ra ids and supporting a c onstitutiona l ame ndme nt to p rotec t it fromraids by future governors.

Foc us on the Farm, Not the Courtroom

It ha s never be en a sec ret to farm fa milies tha t Wisc onsin is one o f the mo st b ea utifulp lac es on earth. While they ha ve a c c ess to this view day in and day out, more a ndmo re peo p le are sea rc hing for their own persona l plot o f Wisc onsin’ s bea uty.Unfortuna te ly, this grow th o f residential comm unities nea r fa rming op erat ions is c rea tinga new threa t to a gric ultural industry.

Fam ily fame rs have enoug h to w orry abo ut without ha ving to find the time and moneyto fight baseless law suits. I sup port imp rovements to Wisc onsin’s “ Right to Fa rm” law sotha t farme rs c an de vote their time and energy to the c rop s and livestoc k tha t ourfam ilies dep end on. I am a lso c om mitted to reforming our leg a l system so tha t p rop ertyrights of fa rme rs and a ll landow ners ac ross the sta te a re p rotec ted .

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Scott Walker's Plan: Agriculture