An area of Sheboygan County has been designated as an agricultural enterprise area (AEA).
The Wisconsin DATCP explains that an AEA allows landowners to enter into voluntary farmland preservation agreements, committing all or a portion of their farm to agricultural use while maintaining state soil and water conservation standards.
One of the newest agricultural enterprise areas is in the Town of Plymouth.
Petitions want to provide tools for local agricultural landowners facing increased development pressure to keep their land in production agriculture while remaining economically and environmentally sustainable.
Other land in Monroe and Shawano Counties was also designated as an AEA.
That brings the state’s total to 54 AEAs, totaling over 1.7 million acres in 33 counties, 147 towns, and the Bad Rivers Reservation.
Landowners interested in the Town of Plymouth AEA can contact Conservation Specialist Laura Grunwalf-Rentmeester at 920-459-1370.
The DACTP will designate up to 2 million acres of Wisconsin land for AEAs in the future.
