{"id":63,"date":"2009-07-27T12:04:36","date_gmt":"2009-07-27T16:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/?p=63"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:59:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T18:59:01","slug":"wisconsins-war-against-agriculture-fines-imprisonment-and-property-seizure-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/?p=63","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin\u2019s war against agriculture: Fines, imprisonment and property seizure"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 23, 2009
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By Marti Oakley (Food Freedom<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"Paul\u201cThe first thing they did when they got the authority to write rules \u2026 was to grant themselves the authority to conduct warrantless searches. Wisconsin\u00a0is in the process of coercing farmers and backyard producers \u2026 into NAIS, and the accompanying Premises ID program, by threatening to withhold any of the licenses they control.\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Paul Griepentrog<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span>In the course of researching various topics, running down leads on information and ferreting out the plans behind the public propaganda used to infringe on one right after another, I sometimes stumble across someone who has so much verifiable information, I am left astounded.\u00a0 This was the case when I happened across a gentleman farmer named Paul Griepentrog while researching the laws and bills about Premises ID and the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).<\/p>\n

I already knew the mandatory law had been bought and paid for in Wisconsin through the use of a USDA \u201ccooperative agreement\u201d to the tune of $35 million.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview I asked Paul to answer a few questions about what is really happening to Wisconsin residents who are being forced onto these illegal programs:<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Does the Animal Health Protection Act of 2003 actually authorize the Animal Identification System or Premises ID?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0There is nothing in that bill giving them authority to create or establish the National Animal Identification System (NAIS).\u00a0 That law has been misquoted saying that it is the authority for NAIS.\u00a0 We have repeatedly sent letters to USDA and Tom Vilsack asking him to show the section of that law that gives the authority but he refuses to answer or acknowledge the letters.<\/p>\n

Q: Has the USDA, in collusion with the Wisconsin AG department, threatened any farms that you know of?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Dwayne Brander on behalf of Dr. McGraw, Assistant State Veterinarian, goes out to farms telling them that if they don\u2019t renew or register their premises in the State of Wisconsin they will file suit against them for failing to comply, using the county DA and calling it a civil forfeiture.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u00a0is in the process of coercing farmers and backyard producers in an effort to force them onto NAIS and the accompanying Premises ID program by threatening to withhold any of the licenses they control and would refuse to give the license unless you signed up.<\/p>\n

Q: Is there a part of the law in Wisconsin that allows for fines and imprisonment based on the sole allegations of these agencies or representative personnel from USDA or DATCP in Wisconsin?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Here is section 95 from the Wisconsin bill implementing the \u201cvoluntary\u201d NAIS\/Premises ID law:<\/p>\n

CHAPTER 95<\/strong><\/p>\n

ANIMAL HEALTH<\/strong><\/p>\n

95.23 Disease investigation and enforcement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

95.23(1)<\/p>\n

(1) Authorized inspectors and agents of the department may enter at reasonable times any premises, building or place to investigate the existence of animal diseases or to investigate violations of or otherwise enforce the laws relating to animal health. Any animals or materials suspected of being infected may be examined or tested. No person shall obstruct or interfere with such investigation or enforcement work, or attempt to do so, in any manner, by threat or otherwise.<\/p>\n

95.23(2)<\/p>\n

(2) Upon request of an authorized inspector or agent of the department,\u00a0sheriffs and police officers shall assist<\/strong> in the enforcement of the laws relating to animal health.<\/p>\n

95.99 Penalties<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

95.99(1)<\/p>\n

(1) Any person who violates this chapter, or an order issued or a rule adopted under this chapter, for which a specific penalty is not prescribed shall, for the first offense, be fined not more than $1,000; and for any subsequent offense fined not less than $500 nor more than $1,000, or\u00a0imprisoned not more than 6 months<\/strong> or both.<\/p>\n

95.99(2)<\/p>\n

(2) The department may seek an injunction restraining any person from violating this chapter or any rule promulgated under this chapter.<\/p>\n

95.99(3)<\/p>\n

(3) A person who violates this chapter or any rule promulgated or order issued under this chapter, for which a specific penalty is not prescribed,\u00a0may be required to forfeit not less than $200 nor more than $5,000 for the first offense<\/strong> and may be required to forfeit not less than $400 nor more than $5,000 for the 2nd or subsequent offense committed within 5 years of an offense for which a penalty has been assessed under this section. A forfeiture under this subsection is in lieu of a criminal penalty under\u00a0sub.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

Q: Do citizens have the right to demand a full disclosure of the exact laws and basis under which USDA and Wisconsin have charged them? \u00a0Is there any defense against these attacks?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0There seems to be none.\u00a0 In the cooperative agreement it states all applicable federal laws shall apply.\u00a0 There are certain major State and Federal Constitutional issues that these laws are in conflict with.<\/p>\n

Q: Who exactly is asking for this information?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0The Department of Agriculture, State of Wisconsin administered by Assistant State Veterinarian, Dr. Paul McGraw; both knowing this has nothing to do with livestock or food safety.\u00a0 This comes from The World Trade Organization and their trade program OIE.\u00a0http:\/\/www.oie.int\/eng\/en_index.htm<\/a> World Organization Animal Health.<\/p>\n

Q: Where is the information stored? For what purpose?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: Initially intake is at state level, and then it moves through forms records management plan.\u00a0 There are different steps on how they process this information.\u00a0 From everything I read, a disease outbreak would give state, federal and international interest\u2019s access.<\/p>\n

Q: Who is storing the information?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0Wisconsin Department of Agriculture and then to Wisconsin Livestock Identification Consortium with (WLIC) as final repository in Canada. The WLIC is comprised of various agriculture groups, breed associations and companies selling RFID tags.<\/p>\n

Rep. Obey & Sen. Kohl helped to get WLIC started and moved the data base to Canada.\u00a0 The head of WLIC initially was Gary Tauchen who is now a Wisconsin representative and sitting on the house AG committee.<\/p>\n

In my own case, I have been registered twice after the fire number on my property changed.\u00a0 Once under the original number and my name and again under the newly assigned number and my farm name; I did not register for Premises ID on either occasion and was signed up without my knowledge or consent.<\/p>\n

Q: If the WLIC is listed as the last repository of data mined information, how did files on Wisconsin agricultural properties end up being stored in Canada?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0WLIC with the help of Rep. Obey and Sen. Kohl although I don\u2019t know for sure how this was accomplished. The intention was to avoid any Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request or open information requests until they passed the 2008 Farm Bill and included a provision in that bill saying that these files would not be available to FOIA requests.<\/p>\n

Q.\u00a0 Who had access to these files when they were outside the country?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: \u00a0We don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Once it was outside US jurisdiction we had no way of knowing.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Are you able to get copies of your personal file from the Canadian data bank?<\/em><\/p>\n

A: \u00a0I was able to obtain the premises information pursuant to the forms records management plan.\u00a0 To my knowledge I am only the second person to do so.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 We know these programs have nothing to do with tracking animal disease and are actually meant to end competition for industrialized agricultural interests, and to seize control of agricultural lands and livestock\u2026.who are the actual players that will benefit from these programs?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0The big corporate industrialized agriculture operators\u2026.Cargill, Tyson, Monsanto and others, because they would see the end to competition and obtain virtually full control over all agriculture.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Are Wisconsin politicians either state or federal willing to speak to you about NAIS, Premises ID or the fake food safety bills?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0On the Federal level, Sen. Kohl and Rep. Obey will not take my calls.<\/p>\n

(*Writer\u2019s note: I made my own calls to these offices and when I stated what I was calling in reference to, the staffers got really nasty and then hung up)<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact Sen. Kohl\u2019s staffer, Kim Cates\u2019 husband is on the Agriculture Consumer Protection Citizen board.\u00a0 He would not even meet with John Kinsman of Family Farm Defenders to discuss the issue.<\/p>\n

On the state level are the continuous lies.\u00a0 These people will say Premises ID has nothing to do with NAIS.\u00a0 They say this even though they have been shown the cooperative agreement between USDA and Wisconsin DATCP outlining Premises ID as the first step.\u00a0 They refuse to look at or acknowledge the legal documents.<\/p>\n

DATCP had a document on the Wisconsin Legislative information Bureau site saying that the Amish don\u2019t have any problem with this.\u00a0 If the Amish don\u2019t have a problem with it why are they suing Emmanuel Miller Jr., an Amish from Clark County?<\/p>\n

Steve Kagen would not address our concerns and he\u2019s on the US house Ag sub- committee that held a hearing on NAIS and is also involved in the food safety bills and won\u2019t address our concerns even there. \u00a0He is working right now to get funding to move Wisconsin into phase II of NAIS which is the mandatory chipping and tagging of all animals.<\/p>\n

I will say that Sen. Feingold has been willing to listen to our concerns both in his Washington office and in the state office.<\/p>\n

\"montagesAlthough there is a bill in Wisconsin which would restore voluntary participation I feel it is nothing more than an attempt at political redemption by the same people who passed the mandatory bill to begin with, in that they are fully aware that this bills will be sent to the House Ag committee and never see the light of day.\u00a0 This is merely political posturing\u2026. The house, senate and government are all controlled by Democrats.\u00a0 This may be nothing more than a smoke screen while they make mandatory phase II which is the tagging and chipping, which can\u2019t be done unless you have a Premises ID.<\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

Paul Griepentrog shows that, in the end, what was billed and sold to Wisconsin farmers and herders as a strictly \u201cvoluntary\u201d system turns out to be a mandatory system operated much like a police state enforcement policy.\u00a0 There can be no doubt, especially in light of the hyped up investigation and enforcement policies that this law in Wisconsin is less about disease and more about property seizure and forfeiture.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u00a0is the blueprint for the remaining states:\u00a0 what happens there is going to happen to all independent ranchers, farmers and producers across the country if any of these fake food safety bills, or National Animal Identification System (NAIS) is passed into law.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2009\u00a0Marti\u00a0Oakley<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

July 23, 2009 By Marti Oakley (Food Freedom) \u201cThe first thing they did when they got the authority to write rules \u2026 was to grant themselves the authority to conduct warrantless searches. Wisconsin\u00a0is in the process of coercing farmers and backyard producers \u2026 into NAIS, and the accompanying Premises ID program, by threatening to withhold […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3],"tags":[34,477,27,38,8,32],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-codex-alimentarius","category-nais","tag-destroy-small-farms","tag-nais","tag-nais-about-control","tag-nais-land-grab","tag-oppose-nais","tag-usda-not-trustworthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":421,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/amishinternet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}