The Agricultural Enterprise Area (AEA) program was created as part of the Wisconsin Working Lands Initiative in the 2009 – 2011 biennial budget (2009 Act 28). State statute authorizes the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to designate up to 1 million acres statewide as agricultural enterprise areas.

Since 2009, in Wisconsin 22 AEAs totaling nearly 510,000 acres in 17 counties and 55 towns have been designated.