Creating New Opportunities for Wisconsin Farmers Through the UW Emerging Crops Team and WI Emerging Crops Coalition

By Jason a Fischbach and Steffen Mirsky

A key component of the resiliency and vitality of Wisconsin’s agricultural economy is the diversity of crops and products produced across the state. New and emerging crops offer new revenue streams and profit centers for farms and can provide new solutions to long-standing soil and water quality challenges. Development of new crops, however, is not easy as it requires developing a complete value chain all the way from viable germplasm to thriving markets.

The UW Emerging Crops Team and the WI Emerging Crops Coalition was formed in 2022 with the goal of hastening development of a portfolio of promising new (and old) crops including: hazelnuts, hemp, hops, fiber flax, winter camelina, table grapes, honeyberry, elderberry, aronia, currants, and culinary grains. Each of these crops has its own unique set of challenges that require targeted actions to overcome.

This Strategic Plan outlines key development priorities to advance each crop based on extensive input and analysis from early-adopter growers and stakeholders working to develop the crop.

Executive Summary

The University of Wisconsin Emerging Crops Team was formed in 2022 with the purpose of accelerating the development of emerging crops in Wisconsin. Our work focuses on crops in four categories: 

1. Bringing Superfruits to Health-Conscious Consumers
   • Aronia – page 9 in PDF below
   • Currants – page 15 in PDF below
   • Elderberries – page 20 in PDF below
   • Honeyberries – page 25 in PDF below
2. Bringing the Nut Economy to Wisconsin
   • Hazelnuts – page 29 in PDF below
3. A New Day for Old Crops
   • Flax – page 35 in PDF below
   • Hemp – page 40 in PDF below
   • Hops – page 57 in PDF below
   • Table Grapes – page 64 in PDF below
   • Culinary Grains – page 67 in PDF below
4. Solving Water Quality Problems with New Crops
   • Kernza® – page 71 in PDF below
   • Winter Camelina – page 78 in PDF below

Joining us in our work is the Wisconsin Emerging Crops Coalition, which is a group of stakeholder organizations, grower groups and government entities working to support crop diversification, economic development, and soil and water stewardship in Wisconsin. The Coalition has four main objectives: 

1. To serve as a communication and coordination mechanism for organizations working to develop and support new and emerging crops in Wisconsin. 
2. To advocate for state and federal policies that advance the development of new and emerging crops in Wisconsin. 
3. To secure public and private funding sources to support development of new and emerging crops in Wisconsin. 
4. To provide advice and guidance to the research and development programs of the University of Wisconsin’s Emerging Crops Team. 

This WI Emerging Crops Strategic Plan is both a snapshot in time, providing an overview of each crop in our portfolio as of November 2024, and a path forward, outlining specific steps necessary to advance each crop and industry. 

Further, this Strategic Plan is a call to action. It is a call to “do” new crop development in a different way. It is also a call with increasing urgency as climate change, seemingly intractable soil and water problems, and ongoing economic simplification have made the need for new crops, new solutions, and new opportunities even greater. 

Methodology

The information and strategic priorities included in this Plan are based primarily on interviews conducted from November 2023 through October 2024 with stakeholders involved in each of the crops. The strategic priorities presented are the opinions of the Plan’s authors on what is necessary to develop the crop’s value-chain. Individual stakeholders may have different strategic priorities for their own organization and their unique place in the value-chain.

CAUTION: Each crop covered in this Plan is rapidly evolving and the information contained herein may not be current at the time you read it. Like any strategic plan we will update this document periodically. As such, any comments or corrections are appreciated and should be directed to Jason Fischbach.

Read more or download the full report below.