By Gil Halsted
WI Public Radio 12/22/2008
(STATEWIDE) An Amish dairy farmer in Clark County is the first person in the state to be prosecuted for not complying with the state's mandatory farm livestock registration rules. But a family farm group says many other farmers have also refused to register because they don't want to implant radio frequency chips in their animals so they can tracked for disease.
The state's farm registration requirement became law in 2006, and was initially part of a federal plan to require all farm livestock to be registered so they could be tracked from birth to the slaughterhouse and eventually to a consumer's dining room table. But Wisconsin Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Donna Gilson says the feds have backed off on that plan. She says the state's premises registration requirement is not part of a plan to tag and track all animals in the state.
"There is absolutely no movement afoot in Wisconsin to make animal identification mandatory," says Gilson.
But Sauk County farmer John Kinsman of Family Farm Defenders says he's not convinced that either state or federal agricultural officials have given up on that plan. He says there are already private companies marketing ID chips to farmers for their animals. He also says farmers like Emmanuel Miller in Clark County – who’s refusing to register his farm because of his Amish faith -- are being denied milk licenses and threatened with thousands of dollars in fines if they don't register.
Kinsman says people from Pennsylvania, New York, Minnesota, Missouri, and Vermont have contacted his group, “very upset” and fighting state campaigns to “get your farm number."
Kinsman say he registered his farm soon after the rule was enacted but regrets it now because he doesn't want to be forced to register every one of his animals.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel Miller's next court date is scheduled for March 29th
