WFBF POLICY BOOK

On Jan. 12, Governor Tony Evers delivered the first virtual State of the State address. This annual address is usually broadcasted to the public by one of the local television stations with the governor speaking to a full crowd of legislators in the Assembly chamber. This year, however, the governor gave his remarks from the conference room in his office directly into a camera with no live audience.

A significant portion of his message was devoted to the fallout created by COVID-19. Gov. Evers recounted how difficult the year has been for some, especially those whose loved ones may have died from complications of the virus. He encouraged those who have persevered and persisted to keep their businesses open, keep their communities safe, keep putting food on their tables and keep helping one another.

He recalled that the state was able to invest nearly $2 billion in additional assistance to frontline health care efforts, businesses and farms. In the agriculture world that translated to direct financial assistance to more than 15,000 farms in Wisconsin. He gave a nod of appreciation to those farmers, growers and producers who kept working to maintain a food chain that could provide for our communities.

The changes brought about by the virus also segued into the digital divide that exists across our state. The pandemic highlighted the lack of access to high-speed internet for many citizens in Wisconsin. Gov. Evers quoted statistics from the Federal Communications Commission stating that more than 430,000 rural Wisconsinites lack access to high-speed internet. Wisconsin ranks 36th in the country for accessibility in rural areas. That is why he announced that 2021 will be the Year of Broadband Access. As a budget priority, he intends to invest nearly $200 million into broadband over the next biennium. He views high-speed internet access as a necessity, not a luxury. He suggested that every Wisconsinite across the state should have access to reliable high-speed internet.

Other priorities presented by Gov. Evers included his recognition of a broken unemployment system. The pandemic created an influx of unemployment claims that could not have been anticipated, creating an insurmountable backlog of payments. Since March there have been more unemployment claims than the past four years combined. He called a special legislative session to take up a plan to modernize Wisconsin’s unemployment system to guard against this type of dysfunction from happening again.

In addition, Gov. Evers intends to take on the redistricting of legislative maps that occurs every decade following the census. The districts are redrawn to reflect changes in movement of population in an attempt to keep constituent counts balanced among districts. The governor’s intent is to form a map commission that will seek feedback from people around the state in deciding where to draw legislative district lines rather than the current method defined in the state constitution giving that authority to the legislature.

You can find the transcript of this speech at evers.wi.gov/ Pages/Home.aspx.

Want to know where Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation stands on an issue? The 2021 policy book is available at wfbf.com.

The document reflects the most recent policy directives established by voting delegates at the 101st WFBF Annual Meeting in December. "Farm Bureau’s policy is established by members through a structured policy development process,” said WFBF President Kevin Krentz. “It makes me proud that suggestions and policy ideas come directly from members at the county level. Through this grassroots process Farm Bureau can work to represent its members’ needs. I encourage you to review our policy book and get involved in the process of policy development.”

To view the policy book online, visit wfbf.com/policy/policy-development.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau was disappointed that the Natural Resources Board voted on Jan. 22, to delay implementation of a 2021 wolf hunting season until Nov. 2021.

WFBF testified in support of a state wolf hunting season during the Natural Resources Board’s special meeting to discuss implementing a wolf hunting season yet this winter. Board members heard from staff within the department and took public comment.

“WFBF requests that the members of the Natural Resources Board instruct the DNR to move forward with wolf hunting this winter,” said WFBF Director of Governmental Relations Tyler Wenzlaff. “WFBF has requested resumption of a wolf hunting season immediately upon federal delisting with the DNR, state legislature and Natural Resources Board.”

Wenzlaff explained that the 2011 Wisconsin Act 169 and subsequent 2019 Wisconsin Act 285 provided the necessary steps to implement a wolf hunting season.

Farm Bureau Board Director Ryan Klussendorf, who is a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Medford, also testified. Klussendorf has experienced wolf depredation and livestock harassment on his rotational grazing dairy farm.

He acknowledged that the Wisconsin DNR has had ample time to start planning a hunt to manage the population of wolves.

“I am not an expert on wolves, but I am an expert on how one pack of wolves can torment you, threaten your livelihood and haunt you until you want to give up,” said Klussendorf.

Wolf harassment on Klussendorf’s farm started in 2011 and continues today.

“I have moved my animals within 100 feet of my farm buildings at night to protect them and what it did was bring the wolves closer to my children and home,” Klussendorf explained and added that the changes in wolf behavior they have witnessed as they become more comfortable and emboldened interacting in closer proximity to humans, includes incidents of wolves stalking children waiting for the school bus.

“The reality is that the natural world is brutal and less than picturesque,” Klussendorf said. “Help us, those who live in the natural world, set up a hunt now, using the plan that is in place to manage the wolf population now.”

WFBF President Kevin Krentz also submitted testimony requesting that farmers be included on the forthcoming 2021 DNR Wolf Management Advisory Committee and asked that the DNR immediately advise farmers about current wolf management protocols and procedures.

“We believe that including farmers on the committee is critically important in order to ensure that management issues related to livestock are discussed and addressed,” said Krentz.

While this decision is a setback for farmers who want to see the wolf population immediately managed by the state, WFBF will continue to engage in discussions surrounding the implementation of a state wolf hunting season later this year.

WFBF’s governmental relations team has taken into consideration the policy modifications and directions from the resolution session during the 2020 WFBF Annual Meeting as well as relevant issues that are pending for consideration in the new legislative session. Using these resources, the governmental relations team has developed priorities that will be shared with legislators for the 2021-2022 biennial budget.

Some of the priorities reflect new legislative action while others seek to maintain current funding or positions for the upcoming biennial budget. A number of these proposals were introduced in the last session but failed to become law.

The governmental relations team has begun contacting and working to re-establish relationships with re-elected and newly elected legislators. Outreach with members of the Joint Committee on Finance has been ongoing to discuss budget priorities. Rep. Gary Tauchen and Sen. Joan Ballweg will be chairing their respective Ag Committees as well.

WFBF has partnered with other agricultural groups to engage with Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection regarding proposed changes for the regulation that attempts to control nitrate levels in specific regions of the state (NR 151). Over the past months, a technical advisory committee has met with DNR representatives and discussed the goals that DNR has for making modifications to this rule.

One of the next steps required in the process is a thorough financial analysis of the proposed changes – in other words, what is the practical cost of the proposed changes. DNR will determine the economic impact of these rule changes. DNR has also asked UW-Madison’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Applied Economics Department to provide a realistic sense of the financial impact of the proposed changes to compare with the DNR findings. UW CALS will be forming focus groups to provide additional input into the data they collect. This process has begun and is expected to be completed before the end of February.

UW CALS has put out a call for farmers to join them in evaluating what these changes might mean to people in the industry. WFBF has asked members who own farmland to engage in these focus groups and provide input into this financial exercise to provide DNR with the most accurate information.

To date, DNR has not published their proposed changes to the rule. DNR intends to publish the changes at the same time they release their economic impact study.

On Jan. 4, Speaker Robin Vos introduced Assembly Bill 1. This is a lengthy, multi-faceted proposal that addresses 40 diverse venues where the pandemic has resulted in negative impacts on Wisconsin citizens. General categories include corrections, education, employment, childcare, insurance, public utilities, public health, local governments and taxation.

Along with many other agricultural organizations, WFBF sent a letter of support to the governor and legislature regarding a specific section of this bill that addresses an employer’s civil liability for the death or injury to any individual or damages resulting from COVID-19 that are claimed to be caused through the performance or provision of the employing entity’s functions or service.

American Farm Bureau Federation joined a coalition of farm and agribusiness organizations to send letters to the National Governors Association, the Trump Administration and the Biden Transition Team encouraging that food and agricultural workers be included among high priority populations.

On Dec. 4, WFBF joined a coalition of 20 other agricultural and supporting organizations to make a similar request to Gov. Tony Evers.

On Jan. 12 the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee Vaccine Distribution Subcommittee announced its recommendations defining what segments of the workforce should be included in the next priority round to receive COVID-19

vaccinations. This would be considered priority Group 1B. (Group 1A included frontline health care workers, long-term care staff and residents and police and firefighters.)

The announcement of Group 1B included prioritizing teachers, first responders, childcare workers, prisoners, individuals over the age of 70 and mink husbandry workers. Other than the mink farm employees, no acknowledgment was made to provide vaccines for any other segment of agriculture workers or food processing employees.

Agriculture organizations including WFBF submitted comments to Wisconsin's Department of Health Services. The comment requested consideration of our industry to be included in Group 1B, especially since Wisconsin is now anticipating the receipt of additional doses of vaccine.

Gov. Evers signed Phase 1B to include food production, agriculture and grocers. This includes large animal veterinarians and others providing service to farms such as breeding technicians and service personnel.

Wisconsin Farm Bureau is involved in two cases that have significant impact on farmers. The cases, Clean Wisconsin, Inc. v. DNR and Kinnard Farms, Inc. v. DNR, involve high-capacity wells and CAFO permitting, respectively.

In 2011, more than 30 Wisconsin business groups, including WFBF, lobbied for 2011 Wis. Act 21, a law that critically limited the authority of state agencies by requiring all agencies to have explicit statutory authority in order to implement or enforce any regulatory standard.

A decade after its enactment, we are still fighting to enforce 2011 Act 21. But two recent Supreme Court decisions support our position.

WFBF has participated as an intervenor in the Clean Wisconsin case and as an amicus party in the Kinnard Farms case. If the Supreme Court agrees with our positions in these cases and finds that legislative delegations to agencies must indeed be explicit, then Act 21 may become one of the most important constraints ever imposed on agency authority in Wisconsin.

The relief package totals $900 billion. Thirteen billion dollars will go to programs that directly benefit agriculture with $284 billion added to the Paycheck Protection Program. There is $7 billion allocated for broadband, including $300 million for rural broadband and $250 million for telehealth.

The Trump administration took the first steps to begin the process of challenging Canada’s implementation of new tariffs rate quotas. The two countries will now begin consultations under dispute rules laid out in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which could lead to the formation of an official dispute panel.

Canada is operating the tariff-rate quotas to give 85 percent of them to Canadian processors so they can buy products that don’t compete with Canadian products, according to U.S dairy industry officials. The result is that the U.S. is not able to export more of the high-priority products, like mozzarella directly to restaurants, for instance.

Almost 500 dairy farmers who once sold milk to Dean Foods received letters threatening legal action unless they refund money legitimately earned prior to the bankruptcy filing.

AFBF is aware of the situation and has responded to lawyers representing Dean Foods with a letter of its own. If you have received this letter, please reach out to WFBF.

In late 2020, the FY21 Energy & Water Appropriations bill was signed. The bill calls for a new lock construction start – determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This is an opportunity to get the Navigation-Ecosystem Sustainability Program started.

WFBF President Kevin Krentz authored a letter supporting the funding and construction for locks on the Mississippi River directed to Assistant Secretary of the Army R.D. James. This letter was also sent to the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation.

Brazil has added a 20 percent tariff on imports of U.S. ethanol. The tariff comes after the expiration of a tariff-rate quota on Dec.14. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and Brazil were not able to reach an agreement to extend the tariff-free treatment for imports of U.S. ethanol. Brazil was importing 198 million gallons of U.S. ethanol duty-free. The initial TRQ expired on Aug. 31 and was extended until Dec. 14.

The ethanol industry has lost billions this year. Revenue that is not from pent up demand but lost and cannot be made up. This resulted in 700 million fewer bushels of corn being used for ethanol.