I've got a riddle for you. What costs a lot of money, offends at least one or two religious groups, involves more than 2 billion animals, can drive people out of business and violates four amendments to the Constitution?

If you said the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) you'd be right.

The idea is that every cow, turkey, pig, sheep, chicken, goat and horse in the nation will be outfitted with a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID), and farmers will be required to report application of an RFID tag to every animal, the animal's birthdate, every time an animal leaves or enters the property, every time an animal loses a tag, every time a tag is replaced, the slaughter or death of an animal, or whether an animal is missing. If such events are not reported within 24 hours, unspecified "enforcement" actions will be taken.

So far NAIS isn't mandatory but it will be and the Wisconsin Legislature, eager to show Big Brother just how compliant it can be when showered with $1.7 million, already has made the program compulsory. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) has implemented the program.

Phase One, Premises Registration, began last year, but after vehement objections by Wisconsin farmers, DATCP backed down from its threat to revoke milk licenses from noncompliant dairy farmers.

Phase Two is the actual tagging of animals with a 15-digit number. Large farms, which keep animals imprisoned all their lives, will be able to register their animals as a single lot, but small operators, the family farmers, will be required to tag individual animals, at a cost estimated to range from $3 to $20 each.

NAIS was created for the government with the cooperative efforts of huge agribusiness corporations. Agribusiness stands to benefit from access to a huge animal database, or it could be that agribusiness will be satisfied by just driving the little guy out of business.

Some Amish and Mennonite farmers have sold their livestock because they believe RFID tagging to be "the mark of the beast" as prophesized in the Book of Revelations. Others have spoken of leaving the U.S. altogether.

There is precedent in world government for this kind of trampling on individual rights and freedom. Mussolini declared that all cows were owned by his fascist regime in Italy. Possibly the NAIS reference to a National Herd is a prelude to something more sinister.

In the former USSR, in the 1930s, Stalin declared that there would be no more private ownership of farms. Collectivization was necessary to ensure a place in the world grain market. Suggestive of our government's, and agribusiness', declaration that NAIS will ensure our place in the world livestock market.

If you're like me, you get a bit uncomfortable when you hear phrases like "National Herd," "Premises Registration" and an NAIS reference to farm owners as "stakeholders."

The sponsor of the NAIS bill in Wisconsin was State Rep. Barbara Gronemus, D-Whitehall. She has since expressed regret that she introduced the legislation. According to Gronemus, she did so at the request of Agriculture Committee chairman Al Ott, R-Forest Junction.

Family farmer Cheryl Wedin has asked the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin (LPWI) to join her in trying to get this legislation repealed. Cheryl has also provided me with information about NAIS.

Will you take time to help us? Please e-mail, phone, or write to your state legislators, and contact Barbara Gronemus and Al Ott as well (contact information below). Also, if you have any ideas about what else we can do, please share them with me.

- Dave Hendrickson is chairman of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin.