Jefferson County, WI Right to Farm: Agricultural Zoning Protection (2026)

Jefferson County Code § 22-277 sets the purpose of the A-1 Exclusive Agricultural District as preserving fertile land for farming and protecting it from premature urbanization, while promoting continued agricultural use, encouraging long-term investment in food and fiber production, and maintaining the district's status as a state-certified farmland preservation zoning district so property owners keep their eligibility for Wisconsin's farmland preservation tax credit program. The district can only be applied in areas the county's agricultural and land use plan designates as agricultural preservation areas. New housing on A-1 land is tightly limited: rezoning to the A-3 Agricultural/Rural Residential District, under that district's own policies and the county's agricultural preservation plan, is the only route to build new housing on currently A-1 land, apart from replacing certain existing farm residences as separately authorized.

Backing this purpose section are the district's use rules: permitted agricultural uses under § 22-278 cap feedlots at 150 livestock units and poultry farms at 10,000 birds before a conditional use permit is required under § 22-280, and permitted accessory uses under § 22-279 include existing farm residences built before January 15, 1975 (or their replacements within 100 feet), agricultural accessory structures, and agricultural stables. Minimum lot area in A-1 is 35 acres under § 22-281, with narrow exceptions for pre-1975 parcels and recorded farm consolidation lots.