Wisconsin's Prairies: Past, Present, and Future

Tallgrass prairie is one of the most threatened natural communities in the world. Prior to European colonization, many states in what we know now as the Corn Belt were covered by millions of acres of prairie.

Prairie's have been present in the Midwest for thousands of years. Many natural and anthropogenic events have shaped their appearance on the landscape, creating cascading effects on soil health, and biodiversity.

Let's take a look at phenomena in Wisconsin's history that has shaped both the natural and physical world, informing the growth and death of prairies.

The Pleistocene Epoch is characterized by the presence of ice sheets that once spanned across much of what is now North America. The movement and retreat of these the Laurentide ice sheet imposed significant effects on the landscape that can still be seen today. The erosion of bedrock and subsequent melting of glaciers terrain brought about glacial lakes, whose remnants are know today as the Great Lakes.

Following Paleo-Indians, or the First Peoples of Wisconsin, Woodland Indians, Mississippian Culture, the descendants of the the Oneida, the Menominee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and Dakota (Eastern Sioux), came to occupy areas of the northern Great Plains. Native wisdom displays a vast knowledge of the earth and its ecologies and a deep respect for the land and its inhabitants. Within Indigenous culture is the origin of regenerative agriculture solutions and the research field of agroecology.

In search of a water route to the Pacific, explorers Etienne Brule and Jean Nicolet were the first europeans in Wisconsin. Although they failed to find a water passage, they instead found a region rich in animal furs. A "discovery" that brought many colonists to the region to participate in what is now called the Fur Trade .

Even before the passing of violent policies, such as the Indian Removal Act, it is evident that western colonization had already begun changing the region's landcover. This is apparent in observed trends showing decrease of prairie land and increase in deciduous forests since people settled in the region.

Wisconsin officially became a state in 1848. Many immigrants planted wheat, the state's first cash crop. Plowing prairie land provided new farmers with fertile soil, nurtured by years of prairie growth and fire management, to maximize production. In its early years, the state was responsible one sixth of the nations wheat. When demand for wheat disappeared, many farmers transitioned to growing corn to support the growing dairy industry.

University of Wisconsin Professor Stephen M. Babcock invented the Babcock test, which was a fast way to determine the quality of milk. This invention changed dairy farming in the state forever. Previously, all farmers received the same pay for milk, but with the test there was incentive to produce superior and consistent quality milk, solidifying the importance of corn production and dairy farming in the state. With increased farming came a decrease of grasslands, and an increase in the negative side of industrial farming, including air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and depleted soil fertility.

Wisconsin is a top producer of many agricultural goods, including corn for silage, cranberries, ginseng, and snap beans for processing. Today this is seen in a landscape dominated by the monocropping of corn, otherwise known as a "continuous corn" system. Synthetic nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus are applied to soil, and weeds are controlled via a combination of tillage and herbicides. In a region that was once home to fertile grasslands filled with life and biodiversity now exists many unsustainable farming operations which undermine the true potential of Wisconsin’s natural landscape.

Those contributing to the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial, or WICST, work to answer such questions. Established by academics, farmers, industry workers, and UW extension agents, WICST is one of the most diverse long-term experiments in the US, and arguably the world. 

Grassland 2.0 provides decades of research showing that perennial grazed grasslands used in agricultural production are one of the last opportunities to build soils, nutrients, and carbon while providing farmers productive and profitable outcomes. Those at Grassland 2.0 work to make their vision of grassland agriculture a viable option for farmers through policy and governance work, expanding markets for grass-fed products, developing sustainable supply chains, providing scenario development using digital support tools, and engaging community members in reimagining agriculture. 

Long before European colonization and western "discovery" of North America, Indigenous peoples managed and farmed the land. Indigenous culture has deep reference for nature, and strong sense of place. These philosophies guide practices such as intercropping and polyculture, permaculture, grassland grazing, agroforestry, and water management strategies. Perennial grassland grazing techniques are also rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing. As climate changes, many people are choosing to learn from and utilize these land stewardship practices in order to preserve natural resources such as soil and water.

It is up to all of us to decide what story our landscapes will tell 20, 100, or even thousands of years from now. If we continue to treat our land as commodity, extracting every resource as we please through practices we have proven to be unsustainable, we risk losing everything. But there is another way, and it requires the reestablishment of our once abundant prairie land. You can be part of this life-giving future by supporting the integration of Indigenous knowledge into current agricultural practices, purchasing food that is grown locally by conscientious farmers, and demanding change from your local government officials.