Sauk County Farm

The Sauk County farm, formerly known as the Sauk County Health Care Center, is located three miles south of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, at the intersection of State Roads 23 and 154. The County Farm is a roughly 566-acre property, originally called the County Poor Farm and Asylum, the site was initially purchased in 1871 by Sauk County to provide care and housing for impoverished, mentally ill, and disabled people. The County Farm’s healthcare institutions evolved significantly over the course of the 20th century and was renamed the Sauk County Healthcare Center in the 1970’s. It remained in use until 2009 when the decision was made to relocate to the Healthcare Center to the City of Reedsburg.

Today, the County Farm is under the oversight of the Sauk County Land Resources and Environment (LRE) Department and Board of Supervisors, with the Land Conservation Division overseeing most of the property’s management and the Parks and Recreation Division providing maintenance for the historic fire house and the Sauk county Cemetery – the final remnants of the site’s former public health institutions. The Sauk County farm is diverse, consisting of flat bottom fields along the stream that bisects the property as well as gently rolling to steeper hills. Most of the property is comprised of commodity cropland and pasture, which has been rented out to local farmers since the 1980’s. In fact, the land at the County Farm has produced food consistently throughout its 150-year history. The remainder of the property is comprised of the land where the former healthcare center stood, wooded forest, and Narrows Creek, which runs through a significant portion of the property.

The Sauk County LRE Department has developed a property master plan for the County Farm to ensure the continued management of the site’s agricultural and natural resources, the preservation of its historic features, and the transformation of the space into an educational amenity for the Sauk County community. The plan is centered on the following goals: to create educational opportunities for Sauk County’s current and future farmers, and to utilize the space for agricultural demonstration and experimentation. Over the next 20 years, the LRE Department envisions the County Farm becoming a place for Sauk County residents to converge, learn, and experiment with regenerative and conservation-friendly farming best practices.

To learn more about this unique property, please use the links below to read the 2022-2024 Sauk County Farm Master Plan and view the associated maps or use the link below to view the Storymap.

https://arcg.is/0y85Hv