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

Section 74-51 of the Walworth County Code establishes the A-1 Prime Agricultural Land District as a Farmland Preservation District whose purpose is to maintain highly productive exclusive agricultural lands in food and fiber production by effectively limiting encroachment of non-agricultural development and minimizing land use conflicts among incompatible uses. S. Natural Resource Conservation Service and identified in the county farmland preservation plan under Wis. ch. 91. Principal uses permitted outright include farm residences, dairying, grazing, livestock raising, orchards, plant nurseries and Christmas tree production, poultry raising, crop and forage production, sod farming, vegetable raising, viticulture, apiculture, and enrolling land in a federal or state agricultural conservation payment program.

Conditional uses reviewed under § 74-61, such as additional farm residences beyond one per 35 acres, veterinarian facilities for livestock, livestock sales facilities, and a farm family business limited to two non-family employees, must be found consistent with the farmland preservation district's purpose, reasonable given alternative locations, and structured to minimize conversion of agricultural land and any impairment of surrounding protected farmland. The County Zoning Agency views the site and weighs testimony at a public hearing before approving any conditional use in the district. Because the ordinance ties all structures and improvements to agricultural use, a landowner cannot introduce commercial or residential development in A-1 without first securing a conditional use permit or rezoning, and violations are enforced the same way as the rest of chapter 74. The area table for A-1 sets a minimum farm lot size of 35 acres with a minimum width of 300 feet.