An outpouring of public comments prompted state agriculture officials to reduce planned fee increases for livestock markets, dealers and truckers.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, or DATCP, had proposed increasing licensing fees paid by auction barns by nearly 1,700 percent. Livestock truckers were also facing a 517 percent registration fee increase under the proposed department rule.

The steep increases led to pushback from a number of farmer and food industry groups in the state, who said the much higher fees would be a substantial burden on the livestock industry and lead more producers to sell livestock out of state. 

Secretary Randy Romanski told DATCP board members this week that the department received more than 500 comments on the fee increases, leading the agency to reduce the increases being put forward in the rule change.

The new increases are an inflationary adjustment, Romanski said, to make up for the 17-year period when the fees were not increased.

“The increases will range from a low of an increase of about 40 or 50 cents per fee, up to about a couple hundred dollars for some of the more active fees, and there aren’t that many of them,” Romanski said during the Thursday board meeting.

Calling the large amount of public input “productive,” the secretary told board members that the reaction led to discussions with both the farm industry and state lawmakers about how to pay for the agency’s services.

The Wisconsin Farm Bureau, Dairy Business Association and other industry groups have argued inspections and other animal health activities should continue to be partially funded by the state instead of relying solely on industry fees. The organizations thanked the hundreds of farmers and other stakeholders who entered public comment in a statement celebrating DATCP’s decision to put forward more modest increases.

Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, said the new fee increases will be more manageable for the industry to absorb. He said DATCP needs to stay on top of adjusting licensing costs on a more regular basis.

“It’s something that’s a little bit more equitable,” Von Ruden said. “All the folks who are in the industry certainly understand those yearly increases, or every couple year increases, (as) the price of doing business.”

He also hopes to see DATCP pursue more funding in the next state budget to pay for the program, spreading the cost of animal health measures across all of the state’s taxpayers rather than just those in the ag industry.

Romanski said Thursday that the new fee structure will soon be posted to the public and will be discussed at an upcoming DATCP board meeting.

Source - https://kfiz.com