Youth Offender Bill, Prison Overcrowding Bills, Barriers For Young Farmers

Wisconsin’s prison population has risen sharply in the past 20 years, and inmates may soon have to be sent to other states due to overcrowding. We talk to a state lawmaker about his package of bills to address the issue. We also discuss the barriers that young farmers are facing in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and we look into a new bill that would try 17-year-olds charged with non-violent offenses a minors.

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Wisconsin Bill Would Charge First-Time, 17-Year-Old Offenders As Juveniles

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Since the mid-1990’s, 17-year-olds in Wisconsin who commit a crime and are arrested are tried as adults in the state’s court system. Lawmakers at the time said this was a way to prevent young people from committing a crime. Our guest says the law hasn’t worked out that way, and that trying 17-year-olds as adults might not keep them from re-offending in the future. We talk to a state lawmaker who’s introduced legislation that would allow 17-year-olds to be charged as juveniles for their first-time, non-violent offense.
Legislation Looks To Curb Prison Overcrowding In Wisconsin

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Since 1990, Wisconsin’s prison population has tripled, and the state’s prisons are nearly at capacity. State Representative Evan Goyke (D-Milwaukee) has introduced a package of bills that would address the problem of overcrowding and repurpose the troubled Lincoln Hills youth prison. He joins us to share the details of his legislation.
Young Farmers Face Significant Challenges Entering Agriculture

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Starting in agriculture can be difficult. A new survey by the National Young Farmers Coalition asked young people starting careers in agriculture what their biggest challenges are. Some are common to many young people, like paying off student loans. But there are also issues that are unique to that profession — getting access to land to farm, finding skilled laborers to hire, figuring out health care coverage as a self-employed person in a dangerous profession, and managing to make a living right away.

It’s critical that those concerns are addressed,and soon. Farmers over the age of 65 outnumber farmers under 35 by a margin of six to one, and nearly two-thirds of US farmland is set to transition to new ownership within the next twenty years.

We’ll find out what resources are available in Wisconsin, and how to access them.

Are you a young farmer, or are you hoping to enter the field soon? What worries you about a job in agriculture? If you’re an established farmer, do you think it’s harder now to get into farming than it was for your generation? Maybe you’d like to know specifically about some resources available from the Wisconsin Farm Center.

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