Section ATCP 50.08 - Cost-sharing required(1) GENERAL. A landowner engaged in agricultural practices in this state is not required to do any of the following, under s. ATCP 50.04, unless the landowner receives a bona fide offer of cost-sharing: (a) Discontinue or modify cropping practices on existing cropland. In this paragraph, "existing cropland" has the meaning given in s. NR 151.09 (4) (b).(b) Discontinue or modify an existing livestock facility or operation. In this paragraph, "existing livestock facility or operation" has the meaning given in s. NR 151.095 (5) (b).(2) COST-SHARE AMOUNT. A cost-share offer under sub. (1) shall cover at least 70% of the landowner's cost to install and maintain each required conservation practice, or 90% of the landowner's cost if there is an economic hardship under s. ATCP 50.42 (4).(3) LANDOWNER'S COST. A landowner's cost to install and maintain a conservation practice includes all of the following that apply:(a) The landowner's reasonable and necessary expenditures to install and maintain the conservation practice. This includes eligible installation costs identified in subch. VIII, and costs for engineering services under s. ATCP 50.40 (7).(b) The reasonable value of necessary labor, equipment, and supplies provided by the landowner in the installation and maintenance of the conservation practice for the period required under subch. VIII or specified in the contract. This does not include normal operating routines such as clean-outs of barnyards, storage facilities, and gutters.(d) The landowner's cost to take or keep land out of agricultural production, if the landowner must take or keep more than 1/2 acre out of agricultural production in order to install or maintain the conservation practice. The landowner's cost, determined on the date of the cost-share contract, equals the sum of the annual costs that the landowner will incur over the maintenance period specified in the cost-share contract. The landowner's annual cost, for each year of the maintenance period, equals the number of affected acres multiplied by the per-acre weighted average soil rental rate in the county on the date of the cost-share contract. This paragraph does not apply to land directly occupied by a facility or structure, such as a manure storage facility, that a landowner installs as part of the conservation practice.(4) RIPARIAN LAND TAKEN OUT OF PRODUCTION; CREP-EQUIVALENT PAYMENT.(a) If a landowner must take or keep more than 1/2 acre of riparian land out of agricultural production in order to install or maintain a conservation practice, the cost-share offer under sub. (1) for that conservation practice shall be at least equal to the amount that would be offered under the CREP program if the affected lands were enrolled in that program, regardless of whether the lands are actually eligible for the CREP program.(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply unless the landowner agrees to keep the land out of agricultural production for 15 years, or in perpetuity, under contract terms equivalent to those that apply under the CREP program.(c) Paragraph (a) does not apply to a cost-share offer made after the CREP program expires.(d) Paragraph (a) does not apply to land directly occupied by a facility or structure, such as a manure storage facility, that a landowner installs as part of the conservation practice.(5) EXEMPTIONS. The cost-sharing requirement under sub. (1) does not apply to any of the following:(a) A conservation practice that has already been cost-shared for at least 10 years. This exemption does not apply to costs under sub. (3) (d).(b) The following conservation practices if those practices have already been cost-shared for 4 years: 1. Cover crops, as defined in s. ATCP 50.68 (1).2. Nutrient management, as defined in s. ATCP 50.78 (1).3. Residue management, as defined in s. ATCP 50.82 (1).4. Conservation crop rotation, as defined in s. ATCP 50.668 (1).(c) Conservation practices or costs for which cost-sharing is prohibited under s. ATCP 50.40 (3) (b) or subch. VIII.(d) Conservation practices or costs to correct a landowner's criminal or grossly negligent discharge of pollutants to waters of the state.(e) Conservation practices required by a WPDES permit issued under ch. NR 243.(6) COMPLIANCE ACTIONS NOT AFFECTED. Subsection (1) does not limit any of the following: (a) An emergency or interim response to a pollution discharge, to prevent or mitigate imminent harm to waters of the state.(b) County action under s. ATCP 50.16 (6) to suspend a landowner's eligibility for farmland preservation tax credits, if the landowner fails to comply with conservation standards under s. ATCP 50.16 (1).(c) Enforcement of an existing cost-share contract.(7) COST-SHARE GRANT SOURCES. A grant from any public or private source, or combination of sources, may be counted as part of a cost-share grant under sub. (1). A loan is not a grant.Wis. Admin. Code Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection ATCP 50.08
CR 01-090: cr. Register September 2002 No. 561, eff. 10-1-02; CR 08-075: am. (5) (b) 6. Register April 2009 No. 640, eff. 5-1-09; CR 13-016: am. (1) (intro.) Register February 2014 No. 698, eff. 5-1-14.Amended by, CR 23-024: am. (3) (b), r. (3) (c), r. and recr. (5) (b) Register May 2024 No. 821, eff. 6-1-24; correction in (5) (b) 1. to 4. made under s. 35.17, Stats., Register May 28 No. 821, eff. 6/1/2024