Oak Creek Power Plant's gypsum production helps farmers

Gypsum is used to improve soils for farming.

Gypsum is best known as the main ingredient in wallboard, but back in colonial times, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin promoted its use in agriculture to maintain chemical balances between soil, water and plants.

Though gypsum is nothing new in agriculture, what is new is having a local source of gypsum in recent years. 

Our installation of flue gas desulfurization systems at Oak Creek Power Plant produces a high purity gypsum product. We make the gypsum available to Wisconsin farmers. Previously, farmers obtained gypsum from mines in other states, primarily Iowa and Michigan, 

Gypsum application benefits

• Rehabilitation of high sodium, magnesium and aluminum impacted soils.
• Soil structure improvement.
• Surface crusting elimination to improve water penetration and aeration.
• Increased release of soil nutrients to crop roots, reducing need for expensive fertilizer applications.
• Greater yield for alfalfa, corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts and potatoes.

Agricultural gypsum is part of our environmental commitment to reduce emissions and minimize landfill of coal combustion products.

Agricultural gypsum video

WISN-12 agricultural gypsum news story