Terry Cosby, Chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), recently spent three days in Wisconsin. Accompanied by Nathan Fikkert, Wisconsin NRCS State Conservationist, Chief Cosby met with conservation partners, NRCS staff, and agricultural producers during his tour across the state. His visit began in Madison, just steps from the capitol, where he sat down with a room filled with some of Wisconsin’s key conservation partnership representatives. Partners were given the opportunity to ask Chief Cosby questions, share their conservation priorities, and review both the successes and challenges with NRCS programs. 

The following day, Chief Cosby met with staff at the Wisconsin NRCS State Office to discuss processes, and address employee needs and program successes. After his visit to the State Office, Chief Cosby met with Scott and Valerie Gaffney, beef and grain producers in Iowa County, to see firsthand the difference NRCS programs are making for Wisconsin’s farmers. The Gaffneys plant between 40 and 80 acres of silage depending on the year and plant cover crops after the silage is harvested. Scott and Valerie worked with the NRCS to implement cover crops on their fields using Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding made available through the Inflation Reduction Act. The Inflation Reduction Act, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, provides an additional $19.5 billion over five years to support USDA’s oversubscribed conservation programs.  

Chief Cosby’s visit concluded in Milwaukee for a roundtable discussion with over a dozen urban agriculture producers and partners at Victory Garden Initiative (VGI) and to announce the recipients of the Wisconsin NRCS 2024 Community Agriculture Grants. The roundtable discussion engaged local urban agriculture farmers, partners, and organizations to better understand their opportunities, critical needs and challenges, how NRCS can improve outreach, customer service, and program access, and to continue building a strong, collaborative relationship between partners in support of small-scale and urban agriculture. NRCS representatives discussed the technical and financial assistance available for conservation practices beneficial to urban agriculture operations, such as weed and pest management, high tunnels, and raised beds, available through NRCS programs such as the EQIP and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Chief Cosby took the opportunity to hear individual stories and experiences from both new and potential NRCS customers, who spoke on their current challenges as small-scale farmers. 

After a thorough roundtable discussion, the group toured the community garden led by Dr. Sandra E. Jones, Executive Director of Victory Garden Initiative. Since 2009, VGI has installed over 7,000 garden beds throughout Milwaukee County. Because of the Wisconsin NRCS Community Agriculture Grant, they will continue this initiative to expand the utilization of conservation practices and improve access to healthy, local food.

As the day continued, Chief Cosby made his way to The King’s Academy to announce the recipients of the Wisconsin NRCS 2024 Community Agriculture Grants. These state-level grants encourage and promote conservation planning and conservation practice implementation in urban and other small-scale agricultural operations. Selected projects provide conservation learning experiences to urban, suburban, and Tribal communities, address concerns regarding food deserts, advance Tribal food sovereignty, and achieve positive and measurable natural resources conservation outcomes.  

One of the grant recipients was LaChrisa Gillespie, principal of The King’s Academy. The funds the school received will go into the development of an educational program to provide students with a hands-on, dynamic learning environment. The program will provide learning opportunities through the creation and maintenance of raised garden beds and other agricultural systems, teaching students about agriculture, conservation, and healthy food choices.  

“Our vision is to teach our kids about agriculture. Each classroom will be responsible for one of the raised beds outside. We want to help teach them how to grow foods like vegetables and the process that goes into that,” said Principal Gillespie. 

While in Wisconsin, Chief Cosby also delivered remarks at the Sand County Aldo Leopold Symposium and the NRCS Regional Soil Survey Conference. Reflecting on his trip, “I was grateful to see firsthand all of the great conservation work happening here in Wisconsin. I look forward to coming back to see all the progress made,” said Chief Cosby, while providing two major takeaways from his trip: 

• The Inflation Reduction Act is making a big difference in Wisconsin, providing funding for NRCS’ oversubscribed programs and empowering producers to make their farms more climate friendly; and
• Producers and conservation organizations in Wisconsin are tremendously innovative when it comes to conservation on working lands both urban and rural.

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Wisconsin NRCS thanks Chief Terry Cosby and his team for making the time to visit our state to meet with the many important stakeholders to our agency and listen to staff and local producers. We look forward to your next visit.

You can view more photos from Chief Cosby's visit to Wisconsin by visiting our Flickr page.