There was a huge turnout at the April 25th, 2007 meeting [1, , 3] about mandatory Premises Registration in Wisconsin. Opposition to the program was very strong raising questions of what will happen in Wisconsin when the farmers defy the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture on May 1st and refuse to register their premises.
Farmers Speak Out Against Registration System
Agriculture Department Sets May 1 Deadline
MADISON, Wis. — The future of a statewide effort to curb animal disease outbreaks by creating an animal tracking system is up in the air after a packed hearing on Wednesday yielded more questions than answers. Confusion over whether Wednesday’s Department of Agriculture’s Board Of Agriculture, meeting was a public hearing fueled an already fiery controversy mostly among small and medium-sized farmers and members of the Amish community, WISC-TV reported.
The meeting was standing room only as some of the farmers, including some Amish, blasted a new state law that forces those with livestock to sign up for a federal number that registers their farm.
Officials said that Wisconsin is the first state in the nation to pass a mandatory system, called “premises registration,” and will include farmers with cows, sheep or other livestock. The information will be stored by a privately-held company. According to the department’s Web site, officials believe it’s a “necessary first step toward tracking animals individually.”
Most of those at the hearing said that they had problems with that idea and the state law. The critics said that the proposal is everything from illegal to unfair to ineffective at stopping disease, WISC-TV reported. Many farmers said that they don’t see a need or are wary of what this will lead to at the federal level.
Dairy farmer Jeff Pausma said that he is opposed to premises registration. “You’re going to say, ‘You’re hurting us,’ because we’re not taking your ID,” he said. “Well, those are my girls. God gave them to me and I’m not putting a tag in them so you inventory them and keep track of them from satellites in the sky!”
Fellow dairy farmer Dave Schmidt, of Menomonie, said the idea creates more hassles. “I don’t need any more work. I don’t need any more expense!” he said.
Some Amish farmers said that they’re opposed to the law on religious grounds. They said their beliefs bar getting assigned government numbers.
The department has sent letters to farmers, including to all dairy plants, urging them to get unregistered producers registered or face loss of their milk licenses, WISC-TV reported.
Democratic Rep. Barb Gronemus, who was the co-author of the original state law, said that penalizing farmers was never the intent of the legislation.
Department officials said that a May 1 deadline has been established, but they aren’t sure whether it will be enforced given the concerns raised.
-Channel3000 News
I think Gronemus should get an award for “unintended consequences of bad laws” - perhaps her children should be tagged by the USDA, against her will. What is with these legislators - haven’t they ever read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights? That was required reading in public school in her generation, wasn’t it???
So the big questions of the day: Will Wisconsin spill milk? Will the government trample over our clearly protected rights and religious freedoms? Tune in May 1st to Wisconsin, the test bed of NAIS and poorly thought out law.
