Wisconsin Agricultural Land Prices
Livestock spatial distribution
In recent years, the pressure created by growing environmental concerns and concentration of livestock in some areas has heightened the value of land for nutrient management purposes. The map below shows different measure of livestock production and concentration across the state. A first layer shows the number of licensed dairy farms (as of June 2020) within a 10 mile radius. It clearly identifies Clark County as having the highest density of dairy farms, with another concentration area in Monroe and Vernon counties. Those farms, however, are not necessarily the largest ones. Another map layer shows the location of all permitted CAFOs1 in Wisconsin (all types of livestock included). Those larger operations are concentrated in the eastern part of the state.
A more comprehensive measure of livestock concentration is obtained by looking at county level data from the 2017 census of agriculture. This allows to calculate the number of animal units including all species of livestock2 per acre of agricultural land (cropland and pasture). This shows the direct link between pressure exerted by livestock production on local land resources. The map showsthat the highest concentration of animal units per acre are found in Kewaunee, Brown, and Manitowoc counties. Jefferson County also shows a high concentration of animal units per acres, but represent a special case as it is mostly influenced by poultry production rather than dairy. Poultry production also has a high presence in the western part of the state (mostly in Barron and Trempealeau counties). Outside of the East Central region, Clark and Marathon counties show the highest concentration of animal units per acre related to dairy production. In some of those areas, livestock concentration and the demand for land driven by nutrient management purpose may be a dominant factor, even more so than crop and feed productivity.