The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) and Waupaca County Land & Water Conservation Department, in partnership with Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette, Outagamie, Portage, Shawano, and Winnebago counties and the Green Lake Association, have entered an agreement to launch a new network, the Upper Fox-Wolf Demonstration Farm Network.  This is the fourth demonstration farm network in Wisconsin that NRCS has collaborated with conservation partners to establish.  The partnership will support a network of farms that will demonstrate the best conservation practices to reduce phosphorus entering the Great Lakes basin.  

This partnership will address the effectiveness of current conservation systems used to reduce nonpoint source pollution.  The network will demonstrate to farmers and the public that the right combination of traditional conservation practices and other new, innovative technologies functioning on the landscape can produce viable and sustainable economic and environmental benefits.  

"Through this collaboration and funding, we can publicly highlight the most effective conservation systems that have the greatest environmental and economic benefit; we're excited to be partnering to establish our fourth series of demonstration farm networks, "says Angela Biggs, USDA NRCS State Conservationist for Wisconsin.  "Participating farms will demonstrate the effectiveness and adaptability of conservation practice systems that reduce erosion, sedimentation and nonpoint source pollution.  The network will also provide education and technology transfer opportunities for the public,"said Brian Haase, Director of the Waupaca County Land & Water conservation department.  

The Great Lakes region has diverse geology, climate, topography, and soil that provide challenges to controlling erosion and non-point source pollution.  The diversity of the region creates challenges for managers to develop conservation practice systems that function in a predictable manner while addressing the region's conservation priorities.  The Fox Demo Farms were designed to work closely with producers to address these challenges at the ground level and provide solutions that can be implemented on a large scale throughout the river basin.  (Source: Agri View, June 5, 2019)




Mission:
The Upper Fox-Wolf Demo Farms' mission is to demonstrate to farmers and general public that the right combination of traditional conservation practices and other innovate technologies functioning on the landscape can produce viable and sustainable economic and environmental benefit.  

Vision:
To create a culture that encourages collaborative efforts to restore soil health and reduce runoff pollution, improve water quality, and support a strong regional economy. 

Objectives:

• Establish a Demonstration Farm Network in the Upper Fox - Wolf Basin to test the effectiveness of current and innovative conservation systems as they pertain to non point pollution control.
• Establish an efficient and effective mechanism to provide the transfer of technology and information on the effectiveness of conservation systems to the end-users, land management agencies, and agribusiness and the public. 
• Create opportunities for others including resource, environmental research agencies and agribusiness to test research, technical assistance and program implementation on the demonstration farm sites.
• Create and implement an information/outreach strategy to share information and lessons learned to other natural resource managers, researchers, and stakeholders throughout the Great Lakes basin.