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Capitol rotunda Holiday Tree is lit

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – or the Holidays, if you will – at the Wisconsin Capitol. Over the noon hour on Friday, Governor Tony Evers flipped the switch to illuminate the Capitol Holiday tree.

The Medford High School choir sang a variety of Christmas carols, including “O Christmas Tree.” The rotunda evergreen was was officially called a Holiday Tree beginning in 1985, before Governor Scott Walker called it a Christmas tree in 2011.

This year’s 30′ tree comes from the Medford area and celebrates science, with ornaments made by Wisconsin school kids.
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Another Wisconsin city opens up deer hunting inside city limits

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Another Wisconsin city is opening up a deer hunt inside its borders.

The Richland Center Common Council finalized plans Tuesday night to allow bow hunting on city-owned property.

Hunters will have to wait until after the nine-day gun season to try out the new hunt. Only allow bow hunting is allowed, no guns. Hunters must stay more than 300 feet away from any walking paths.

Richland Center has seen an uptick in problems like car-deer crashes and Lyme disease within city limits.

Gov. Evers, Nygren to continue fight over mental health funding for farmers

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The battle of funding mental health programs for Wisconsin farmers will move into the courts next. 

The Republican co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, Representative John Nygren of Marinette, has sued the governor in an effort to have him release some records. 

Democratic Governor Tony Evers and Legislative Republicans have been fighting over the 100-thousand dollars in funding since the new budget went into effect.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture first asked lawmakers to release the money since July, and it took until September for that funding to make it out of the Joint Finance Committee. Former secretary designee Brad Pfaff was recently fired by the Senate, after starting that fight with Joint Finance. 

Dairy company Dean Foods files for bankruptcy

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One of the country’s largest dairy companies is filing for bankruptcy.

Dean Foods will be working with Dairy Farmers of America to restructure. State ag spokesman Rick Hummel says for now, it’s business as usual for consumers and farmers. 

“Under Chapter 11, that allows the company to continue its operations while they’re restructuring, as opposed to a Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy.”

Hummel says they haven’t gotten any reports of checks not being paid to farmers. 

“Our department will be following up with Dean to make sure that payments to producers will continue to be made on time.”

Dean lost its biggest customer last year after Walmart took over its own milk production.

Evers taps Pfaff for DOA job

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Former state Agriculture Secretary designee Brad Pfaff is back to work for a state agency. Governor Tony Evers office announced Monday that Pfaff has been has been hired to serve as the director of business and rural development in the Department of Administration.

DOA Secretary Joel Brennan said that while the state will lose a vital advocate like Pfaff at the Cabinet level, he’ll still be able to serve both the state and businesses while working for state administration. Pfaff’s appointment to lead the Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection was rejected by the Senate last week, and Evers named Deputy Secretary Randy Romanski to an interim appointment.

Evers taps Romanski as interim DATCP Secretary

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Governor Tony Evers is naming a deputy secretary as new interim state agriculture secretary. At a Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection board meeting on Thursday, Evers announced he’s promoting Randy Romanski to interim state agriculture secretary. The state Senate this week rejected Brad Pfaff’s nomination to lead the agency, an action Evers referred to as “amoral.”

Romanski previously served as the agency’s deputy secretary and then secretary under then-Governor Jim Doyle. He then worked for the Department of Transportation in the Division of State Patrol before Evers tapped him to serve as the agency’s deputy secretary under Pfaff.

Romanski won’t be subject to Senate confirmation in the interim role. Evers also said that Pfaff will not be staying on with DATCP.

WATCH: Salty Evers slams GOP over Pfaff firing

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The state Senate voted along party lines Tuesday to reject Brad Pfaff, Governor Tony Evers’ pick to head the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said his members were not comfortable with some of Pfaff’s actions since his appointment.

“Comments about Republicans and farmer suicide, certainly going back to some earlier changes that were made under DATCP, there’s a whole a slew of things that anybody could bring forth. But you’ve got to be comfortable. And I think as we stand here today there’s a number of members of the majority that just aren’t comfortable with Brad Pfaff.”

Pfaff was unanimously confirmed by the Senate Ag committee in February – but received zero Republican votes on the floor Tuesday, as GOP Senators essentially fired him as DATCP Secretary. The final vote was 19-14.

Democrats like Milwaukee’s LaTonya Johnson said Pfaff is extremely qualified, but had angered Republicans. “Let’s just say why we are really here. His tone and his words were not flattering to Republicans.”

In an unusual move, Evers, who picked Pfaff to lead DATCP, was in the chambers as the Senate debated his fate. Afterwards, he spoke with reporters. “There’s nobody who generates more enthusiasm and passion for Wisconsin’s agriculture industry than Brad Pfaff. Now we just threw that away, and for what reason, frankly I don’t know.”

Evers also said expectations that other appointees might need to “keep their mouths shut” in order to get Senate approval “is absolute bullshit.”
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Ag organizations lobby to support confirmation of Brad Pfaff at DATCP

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Governor Tony Evers’ pick to head the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is getting support from a large swath of Wisconsin’s agriculture community as the State Senate’s top Republican calls for his replacement. Executive Director Tom Bressner with the Wisconsin Agri-Business Association said Brad Pfaff needs to stay on the job.

“He has been total supportive. And he just works diligently for agriculture, and we’ve been very pleased and very impressed with the work that he’s been doing. It just makes total sense to us.”

State Senate Majority Scott Fitzgerald said last week that the votes are not in place to support Pfaff in the Senate, which has a scheduled vote on the appointment on Tuesday.  Pfaff and Fitzgerald tangled publicly earlier this year, over the issue of mental health funding for farmers.

Report shows Wisconsin leading nation in farm bankruptcy filings

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A report from the American Farm Bureau Federation finds more bankruptcy filings by Wisconsin farmers than in any other state. The report puts the nationwide increase at 24 percent over the previous year, covering the 12 months ending September 30th.

Several weather incidents and trade disputes were the major factors. Wisconsin led the country for a second straight year. The USDA estimates farm revenue at $88 billion for the year – 29 percent below the record set in 2013.

DNR: keep deer carcasses out of the woods

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With archery deer season underway and rifle season not far off, Wisconsin DNR officials are reminding hunters to properly dispose of their carcasses to prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease.

Daniel Kroll is a Waste Management Specialist in the DRN’s Green Bay Service Center, he says they’ve put together a comprehensive website detailing municipal landfills equipped to handle what’s left of the deer.

“We don’t want the deer on the landscape,” said Kroll. “[CWD] can be spread through contact with deer and it also can be incorporated into the soil where it’s been known to survive for many years.”

Kroll says as of now there are just over a dozen landfills that will take the carcass. Hunters can use the site to find basic information such as directions to the site, hours of operation, and any cost that may be associated with the drop-off.

Other city and county facilities are also accepting carcasses, as are some private businesses.

Additionally, hunters can use the site to find the nearest drop CWD testing kiosk.

In Portage County residents can take their carcasses to the Solid Waste Transfer Facility where a DNR dumpster will be stationed from November 1st through December 31st. The Marathon County Landfill will also accept remains for a fee outside of that window.

Firearms deer season will open November 23rd and close December 1st.

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