Wisconsin livestock markets, dealers and truckers would see large fee increases under a rule change proposed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Under the DATCP proposal, the “Animal Market Class A” license fee would change from $420 to $7,430 and a late fee for those markets would increase by 1,700% — the price skyrocketing from $84 to $1,486.
The registration fee for truckers transporting livestock in Wisconsin would increase from $60 to $370 — a 517% increase that would impact the roughly 1,000 livestock truckers in the state.
DATCP said in its scope statement for the proposed department rule that the department “no longer has adequate revenue to recover costs” and that expenditures cannot be reduced without “resulting in a failure to fulfill statutory requirements.” The fees were last increased in 2009.
A decrease in federal funding also has forced the DATCP to reallocate some state funding, putting an additional strain on the department’s budget.
The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, an organization that represents farmers statewide, said in a Sept. 6 press release the proposed fees would “present a substantial financial burden” to markets, dealers and truckers which would in turn likely be passed down to farmers.”
Rep. Adam Neylon, R-Pewaukee, shared similar concerns, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel consumers will likely be indirectly affected by the increased fees through bumps in product prices.
“In my 12 years in the Legislature, we’ve never seen anything like this,” Neylon said. “It’s quite alarming.”
In its proposal, DATCP noted that in surrounding Midwest states, such as Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, livestock market license fees range from $50 to $300 — a stark contrast to the proposed $7,430 in Wisconsin.
DATCP Communications Director Sam GO told the Journal Sentinel that the proposed fees were calculated by analyzing staff time, data and associated costs by program.
If approved, the fee increases would go into effect on July 1, 2027.
Legislature has little say over fee increases after recent state Supreme Court ruling
In a blow to the power of the state Legislature, the Wisconsin Supreme Court limited a key committee’s ability to block state rules.
In July, the court struck down parts of state law that allowed the Legislature’s Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules — a powerful Republican-controlled panel in charge of approving state agency regulations — to block proposed rule changes created by the governor’s office, rather than going through the full Legislature to create policy.
Neylon, a co-chair of the committee, said the ruling has “really stripped the Legislature of it’s oversight ability,” adding that its unclear if the committee will still have the ability to make binding requests for modifications.
“Some major powers we had through oversight is to object, but also to request modifications. While we still might be able to request modifications, there is no reason that an agency would need to listen to us because we have no authority to actually block or object to any of the rules,” Neylon said.
Neylon said that fee increases should be gradual and that he believes there is an opportunity to work together to find better solutions and pointed to the bipartisan work done on the 2025-27 biennial budget.
“I think the agency and the administration has chosen a different tactic to just go through rulemaking, knowing that we have no ability to object,” Neylon said.
GO said that the department “expects and encourages” public engagement and will consider feedback received at public hearings and via written comment through Oct. 15 before a final draft rule is presented to the DATCP board and governor for consideration.
Anna Kleiber can be reached at akleiber@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Fees for Wisconsin livestock markets could skyrocket under new plan
