Jim Mlsna announced at the Vernon County Town Association meeting, Jan. 28, that he is trying to create an agricultural enterprise area near Hillsboro.

Mlsna is the owner of Ocooch Dairy in rural Hillsboro.

“In order to do that, I need the approval of the government districts that the land is involved in,” Mlsna said. “That’s [the towns of] Hillsboro, Greenwood, Forest and Union.”

An AEA is a contiguous land area that is designated for agricultural use. At least five voluntary landowners have to be involved. The same stipulations as the farmland preservation zoning apply with an AEA: the farmer must make $6,000 a year off the land, follow a nutrient management plan, has to be zoned or in a farmland preservation area, which Mlsna said Vernon County is.

“One of the reasons I’m trying to do the AEA form is so the farmers in this area could be in the farmland preservation,” Mlsna said. “The other main purpose of it is that it preserves the land for ag… I really think [the state] is sincere in protecting ag land.”

Mlsna said a 10-page petition has to be completed and approved by Feb. 26.

“I don’t know if I can get this done, but I’m going to try,” Mlsna said. “AEA may be a better way than zoning the whole township.”

The Department of Agricultural Trade and Consumer Products is only accepting 15 applications and 200,000 acres. Mlsna said a minimum of 1,000 acres is required for the application.

“So it’s kind of important to get to the front of the line if you want to get in,” Mlsna said. “There’s no guarantee that we’ll get in. It depends on how well the application is written.”

Mlsna said that once the application is approved by DATCP, it goes to the state legislature for approval. DATCP bases it’s applications on the risk of development pressure, the number of acres and the number of farmers involved.

“I want something on paper so that when I die I know my land will stay where it’s at,” Mlsna said.