Mid-State to host fourth annual Central Wisconsin Farm Profitability Expo

Chris Rugowski

Contributor

April 14, 2025

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Encourage profitable farming by building resiliency, diversifying farming operations, reducing inputs and increasing farmer return on investment – those are the goals of the fourth annual Central Wisconsin Farm Profitability Expo.

Shane Wucherpfennig – director of the Wood County Land and Water Conservation Department – said the 2025 event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 30 at Mid-State Technical College’s Wisconsin Rapids campus.

Wucherpfennig said the expo is a revitalization of Healthy Soil, Healthy Water events that first took place in 2016 as a part of the Wisconsin River Total Maximum Daily Load project.

He said the event has since evolved into a diverse gathering of stakeholders coming together to emphasize the profitability behind building soil health and conservation practices in a positive light.

“Not only are (these practices) improving soil health and protecting groundwater, they’re putting money back in the pockets of the producers or farmers that are doing the practices,” he said. “We know that if you try to make a change in someone’s operation, if it doesn’t improve their bottom line, they’re probably not going to listen, try or even stick with it.”

Wucherpfennig said the Mid-State facility, catering options and its ability to handle everything with ease – allowing him and his group to focus on the presenters and the content – have made the college a great partner over the past four years.

Making impacts since the first event

Wucherpfennig said the goal of the first annual expo was to get 60 attendees, with at least half being farmers – not just agencies, bankers or other farm-related business people.

He said the first annual event had a “phenomenal” turnout with 135 attendees – 65 of them being farmers.

Wucherpfennig said that inaugural event set the tone for the ones that followed, having ripple effects even after the actual expo.

“We had pulled people from all over the state, even in other areas outside the state,” he said. “What was interesting was a lot of the folks left so fired up that they went back to their communities, areas, colleagues and started similar events and movements. It really took off in an unexpected way.”

As a result of this event and other similar events, Wucherpfennig said there are now around 40 producer-led groups across the state – many of which the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) puts money toward, selecting groups for grants.

The producer-led groups (farmers), he said, are getting grant money from the DATCP to employ conservation strategies on the ground.

Wucherpfennig said farmers are also the ones coming up with ideas – “this isn’t a DATCP list of things to do to get grant money.”

What will this year bring?

Though the topics change every year, Wucherpfennig said the core concept of the event – profitability – remains the same, because that is what draws farmers in.

This year, he said, will feature two different panels and a handful of other speakers.

The morning panel, Wucherpfennig said, consists of farmers who do the conservation work on their farms, and have done so long enough to know whether it is working, positive and profitable.

Panelists, he said, share their experiences and answer questions from the audience.

Wucherpfennig said the afternoon panel features producer-led farmers that are part of a watershed group – with discussions focused on why they’re doing it and how it’s benefiting their communities.

During the lunch break, Wucherpfennig said a DNR representative and a lakes biologist will talk about the good work that’s happening in the watershed as a result of the conservation efforts. After lunch, he said representatives from UW Extension will discuss nitrogen rate and usage recommendations that can benefit farmers and reduce the amount that leaches out or gets washed away.

Conservation practices aren’t new

Wucherpfennig said the event is thanks to Wood County Land and Water Conservation, the DNR and other lake groups, ag businesses/organizations, farm groups, etc., coming together to brainstorm ways to make a difference regarding the water quality in the lakes, rivers and streams. 

“We knew there were conservation practices that would cause less disturbance in the soil, show more profitability and really benefit farmers,” he said.

Though conservation techniques aren’t all that new, Wucherpfennig said farming practices have changed over the years.

Today, however, he said the idea is simple – work smarter, not harder.

“What we’re doing is re-introducing concepts to slow farmers down and promote the fact that you don’t need to work a field five times – you do one pass, plant your crop and still get a profitable crop,” he said. “Is it going to look like a perfect field? No, but less input puts money in your pocket.”

Wucherpfennig said the biggest challenge, in this case, is proving to a farmer that it’s a profitable task.

“Many farms,” he said, are built on traditions they lived with and were raised with, because “Grandpa did it that way, my parents did it that way, so I have to do it that way.”

A collaborative effort

Wucherpfennig said that there’s nothing more powerful than peer-to-peer discussion.

The expo, he said, creates a great opportunity for local county conservationists, the DNR, farmers, lakes groups and ag businesses to partner together.

Wucherpfennig said Wisconsin is unique in that all 72 of its counties have local land conservation offices.

No other states, he said, have that.

“In the last seven to 10 years, we’ve all been coming to the table working collaboratively as a group, as individuals, toward this movement,” he said. “We’re not pointing fingers at each other. We’re all in this together, because we all have a common goal.”

During his 37-plus-year career in the industry, Wucherpfennig said he remembers the “old days” where there was a lot of finger-pointing going on.

Seeing that flip and witnessing that change in mindset is “very rewarding.”

Wucherpfennig said the Central Wisconsin Farm Profitability Expo helps support this mindset.

“Helping farmers (become) more efficient, profitable and, most importantly, productive, benefits us all,” he said. “On a large scale, it improves water quality in surface waters, water quality in drinking water and our resources benefit from that.”

Wucherpfennig said the event is free, but registration is required, which is available at mstc.edu/farm-expo.

He said Certified Crop Adviser’s credits will be offered to all attendees.