Farmers Speak Out Against Registration System

MADISON - 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
calendar icon 26 April 2007
clock icon 1 minute read

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.

Source: Channel300
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