Farm groups, including dairy industry organizations, are applauding Wisconsin legislators for passing a bill that allows farmers to legally operate their farm machinery on roadways this year. The bill (AB 648/SB509) was introduced to update Wisconsin’s antiquated laws concerning farm machinery.

Both the state senate and assembly approved it in March.

The next hurdle in the bill’s path is a return to the upper house for affirmation before it can be finalized because the version passed by the assembly is slightly different from the senate’s version.

The assembly amended the implements of husbandry (IOH) bill to change weight requirements and a permitting process for towns and counties, according to a statement released by the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation. For tillage, planting and harvesting equipment, state law will allow these IOH to be more than 23,000 pounds per axle weight.

Towns and counties have the authority to adopt a resolution or an ordinance to establish a local permitting process to issue no-fee permits for approved routes for tillage, planting and harvesting equipment.

The Dairy Business Association (DBA) said in a statement that its membership is pleased AB 648/SB509 passed in the assembly with the additional amendment, which has “moderately improved this bill in several areas.”

The DBA statement also said that, even with these additional improvements, “Wisconsin dairy farmers will still be affected by enforcement of weight limits when using their existing equipment and vehicles on town and county roads.”

The bill’s permitting program offers minimal protection against replacing these overweight vehicles, putting Wisconsin farmers at an economic disadvantage compared to other states, according to the DBA. PD

—Summarized by PD staff from cited sources