Posted on 09/20/2025 10:53:55 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Wisconsin farmers face a major threat to their livelihoods, as the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) is pushing a radical fee hike that could devastate auction barns, livestock dealers, and farm families statewide. The proposal would increase licensing fees for auction markets by an astonishing 1,700 percent — from $420 to $7,430 — placing enormous burdens on those who work tirelessly to keep Wisconsin’s agricultural economy alive.
As U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) warned, this is not merely a matter of dollars and cents: “Democrats cannot manage a budget, so they shift the burden onto you.” “Not only is this outrageous,” he said, “it will force many of these businesses to close and drive up food costs for all Wisconsinites.”
The timing of this proposal is particularly concerning, as farmers are already grappling with rising input costs, labor shortages, and volatile market conditions. As U.S. Representative Tony Wied (R-Wis.) stated, “The idea that Governor Evers’ Administration would stick farmers with a 1,700% fee increase is downright unconscionable.” Wied warned this doesn’t just punish livestock dealers, auction houses, and haulers — it threatens the stability of entire rural communities.
Perhaps most troubling is the way this proposal was advanced. Curtis Larson, CEO of Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association, pointed out that DATCP developed its fee schedule without sufficient input from those most affected. This lack of collaboration reflects a disturbing pattern: bureaucratic agencies prioritizing their budgets and regulatory ambitions over the real-world needs of the people they are supposed to serve.
If enacted, these fees would make Wisconsin one...
(Excerpt) Read more at thenewamerican.com ...
They probably think that 95% of this burden will be pushed onto OUT OF STATE consumers.
This is on top of a wicked surge in truckers’ licensing fees. These guys thrive on a shoestring as it is.
High admin cost and taxes are signs of insufficient leaders or just straight out communist.
Food, housing, medical low taxes should always be promoted ,otherwise politicians are purposely cultivating self inflicting disaster!
My guess is that the top auction barn is trying to eliminate his competition and he has friends in the state house.
Part of the larger war on all farmers. And not just in the USA.
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