GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (WDATCP) is proposing amendments to the rule that governs the licensing of the state’s animal markets, dealers and truckers. With the changes come steep fee adjustments.
Brian Bradley owns one of Brown County’s oldest dairy farms.
“It’s multi-generational. [It’s] been in the family 200 plus years,” he stated.
In that time, Bradley has diversified the farm to include beef cattle, vegetables and grains in addition to the dairy cows. He says as farmland and equipment costs rise, diversifying operations is the way to stay afloat.
Bradley is a licensed animal dealer. He currently pays a licensing fee of $220 each year to run his business.
If amendments to rule ATCP 12 pass, however, he’ll see a 205 percent increase in that price.
Darlene Konkle, state veterinarian with the WDATCP, explained that the department has not raised the license fees since 2009.
The fees pay for the department’s program costs, and the programs are vital to protecting animal health—and by extension, public health, said Konkle.
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“We have noticed that our program revenue was running into a deficit,” she noted, and increasing license fees will ensure the recovery of annual program costs.
There could be other effects of the proposal, though.
Curt Larson is president and CEO of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales, a market dealer in the state that operates with an Animal Market Class A license.
That license currently costs $420 each year, but if the ATCP 12 amendments pass, the fee will jump nearly 1,700 percent, to $7,430 annually.
Larson said the added expense could lead to more people operating without a license.
“People operating without a license...aren’t being audited and not adhering to the same rules, and you lose your traceability altogether,” Larson claimed.
Both Larson and Bradley also emphasized that increased costs to operate may deter young adults from entering the industry.
“There’s not a lot of incentive in being a farmer,” Bradley said. “There’s a lot of expense.”
Though the markets, dealers and truckers are annually assessed the licensing fee by the state, Larson said it will ultimately be the farmer who pays the cost.
“It deters a lot of people from wanting to farm,” Bradley claimed. “We can’t pass that expense down the line.”
The proposed changes to ATCP 12 are open for public comment through October 15.
