Program covers up to $30,000 per operation for soil health equipment; priority deadline is Aug. 15
Northeast Wisconsin farmers across the Fox-Wolf Basin have a new option for offsetting the cost of soil health equipment with a $250,000 incentive fund from Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance that covers up to $30,000 per applicant.
The Soil Health Equipment Purchase Program, open for the 2026 season, is designed to help producers afford machinery that reduces sediment and nutrient runoff — no-till drills, interseeders and cover-crop seeding drones are among the eligible equipment types. Applications submitted by Aug. 15 will get priority; after that, funding will be awarded as it remains available.
For farm operators in agricultural counties, equipment that supports soil health practices — reduced tillage, cover cropping, precision seeding — often carries a price tag steep enough to delay adoption even when the long-term return is clear. The Alliance frames the effort as filling a gap between farmers’ interest in soil health practices and their ability to finance the equipment needed to implement them at scale.
The fund is part of a broader push toward voluntary, producer-led conservation in the Fox-Wolf Basin, an approach the Alliance and regional ag groups have been prioritizing.
Applications and program details are available at fox-wolf.org/shepp. Anyone with questions can contact Tim Burns, agriculture conservation coordinator at Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, at tim@fwwa.org or (920) 840-0104.
