This week's survey 

This week, agriculture enthusiasts from around the world descended on Madison for the World Dairy Expo. World Dairy Expo serves as a forum for dairy producers, companies, organizations, and other dairy enthusiasts to come together to compete, and exchange ideas, knowledge, technology and commerce.

According to research produced by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the overall impact of Wisconsin's dairy industry is larger than ever. 

In a 2017 report, "The Contribution of Agriculture to the Wisconsin Economy," University of Wisconsin researchers found that dairy generated more than half of Wisconsin's annual industrial agricultural revenue. Even with the number of dairy farms on the decline and lower milk prices, dairy remains a significant driver of the state's economy.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that total agricultural economic impact grew from $88.3 billion to $104.8 billion with dairy's impact growing to $45.6 billion. What is more, the aforementioned report found that "from farmers' milk, 154,000 Wisconsin jobs are created and $1.26 billion in state and local taxes are generated. Every dollar generated by Wisconsin's dairy industry generates another $1.73 in additional revenue for the state."

The following represent a smattering of interesting statistics about the state's dairy industry:

• Dairy generates 43.5 percent of the state's total agriculture activity.
• Dairy, combining both on-farm and daily processing, contributes $45.6 billion to industrial revenues.
• Dairy processing accounts for roughly two-thirds of dairy's total contribution.
• 90 percent of Wisconsin milk is devoted to cheesemaking while the remaining is deployed to butter, ice cream and cultured products such as yogurt, cottage cheese, and kefir. 
• Wisconsin produces 23,553 pounds/2,739 gallons of milk, per cow, annually.
• America's Dairyland produces 3,167,495,000 pounds of cheese, accounting for 26.2 percent of the United States' total.  

Despite remaining a significant industry, local dairy farmers continue to face a number of obstacles. A number of proposals have been introduced by the legislature to assist farmers with the challenges being faced by their industry. For information regarding or copies of these proposals, please contact my office.

Please, take a moment to answer my one-question survey relating to the rejuvenation of Wisconsin's dairy industry.

Click here for my survey

Survey Results

Thank you to everyone who participated in this last week's survey relating to mandatory gun buybacks. There were 155 responses to the survey, with 77 percent opposing mandatory gun buybacks. 

Conversely, 15 percent of respondents expressed support for Governor Evers' proposed mandatory gun buyback initiative. 

Lastly, 8 percent of respondents answered "other."

Some of the responses from those who selected "other," include:

"I do not support mandatory gun buyback policies. But voluntary policies, yes. And numerous other gun safety measures too."

"Mandatory buyback of assault rifles is a must."

"I support common-sense gun safety laws."

Suicide Prevention Task Force

Earlier this session, Speaker Robin Vos, formed a task force aimed at reducing the number of suicides in our state. Did you know that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Wisconsin?

This bipartisan task force, led by Representative Joan Ballweg and Representative Steve Doyle, traveled around the state to hear from survivors, experts, advocates, and families who have been impacted. 

As part of this task force, legislators were tasked with evaluating the current resources for suicide prevention in Wisconsin and identifying opportunities for assisting at-risk individuals. The interim report and policy recommendations were released, late last week. Additionally, a package of bills, based on the task force's recommendations, has been circulated for co-sponsorship. 

The following represents the list of recommendations made by the task force: 

• Suicide prevention program--Will establish a suicide prevention program within the Department of Health Services and appropriate funds for two full-time employees to administer the program.
• Grants for suicide prevention programming--The goal is to grow the number of mental health organizations and coalitions throughout Wisconsin. Furthermore, DHS will be required to award grants to local mental health organizations or coalitions for suicide prevention programming.
• Grants for preventing suicide by firearm--This legislation was designed to bring mental health professionals and firearms retailers and ranges into the decision-making process of preventing suicides.
• Grants to support peer-to-peer suicide prevention programs in high schools--By providing a mechanism for schools to apply for financial resources necessary to start these peer-to-peer programs, we can have a direct impact on reducing suicides in our adolescent population. The Department of Public Instruction may award grants up to $1,000.
• Grants to Wisconsin safe and health school centers--The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction will award an annual grant to a CESA Program to support the implementation of the Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center's program mission of providing prevention and intervention programs for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, mental health programs, and initiatives to enhance school safety.
• Suicide prevention hotlines and student identification cards--This legislation would require all future identification cards distributed by schools to include the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
• Farmer tuition assistance grants--An appropriation would be created by DATCP to make farmer assistance grants. These grants can be used to complete courses at a technical college that pertain to farm and business management techniques.
• Interim psychologist licensure--The Psychology Examining Board could issue an interim license for up to two years to a psychologist who has completed all of the licensure requirements other than the postdoctoral supervised experience requirement.
• Continuing education for certain health professionals--The bill would require two hours of continuing education on suicide prevention to be completed every two years by practitioners when renewing their credentials. 

Any input and feedback you might have regarding the task force's recommendations, would be appreciated. 

60th District Events

The following are events that will be held this week in the 60th Assembly District. If you have any upcoming events that you would like included in my e-update, please contact my office.

Port Washington Outdoor Farmers Market, October 5, Port Washington

Artist Talk, October 5, Port Washington

Autumn at the Village, October 5, Saukville

Lakeside Beer Garden, October 5, Port Washington

Cedarburg Friends of the Library Fall Book Sale, October 4-6, Cedarburg 

Witches and Warlocks Night Out, October 4, Cedarburg

Oktoberfest, October 5-6, Cedarburg

Maxwell Street Days, October 6, Cedarburg

Saukville Farmers Market, October 6, Saukville

Park Eats and Treats, October 5, West Bend

Stay up to date

One of the best ways to date with what is happening in Madison is to sign up for the legislature's notification tracking system. This service affords you with the opportunity to track legislative activities in Madison. Upon creation of a free account, you can sign up to receive notification about specific bills of committees as well as legislative activity pertaining to a subject (i.e., health care, education, etc.).